Disturbed by the tragic death of six-year-old Soraya Bourne, who was killed in a terrorist bomb attack in down town Georgetown on Sunday night, the opposition APNU today said Guyana is facing a major security breach, and the Government must now put added measures in place to ensuring that foreign nationals, in particular, Venezuelans, are thoroughly screened.

A Spanish speaking national, who is suspected to be from neighbouring Venezuela, is the prime suspect in Sunday night’s explosion.

APNU Member, Dr Terrence Campbell said given the Region’s geopolitics including the threats against both Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago by Venezuela amid the US military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the deadly strikes on suspected narco vessels, Sunday’s explosion should not be taken for granted.

“Even as we extend a humanitarian hand, we understand the crisis that is in Venezuela, but at this moment, where there are geopolitical implications, American military involvement in neighbouring Trinidad, and threats against both Guyana and Trinidad, I am certain the level of screening that we ought to have, these Venezuelan migrants, is left than desired. And this is coming after the explosion at GPL’s substation, and the Ruimveldt Police Station. And it seems that we are in a reactive mode rather than a proactive mode,” Dr Campbell said.

Campbell and an APNU team met with the relatives of the dead girl this morning at their home.

He said once thorough screening is done, the security forces would be able to easily track down persons of interest.

“I believe that if proper screening was done, and documentation was done, we are not here to promote xenophobia but we must be balance against protecting our local citizens. And so, if the two previous bombings have done nothing to push the Government towards screening of all migrants in this country, I think this incident, this tragic loss, today we are dealing with a family that is suffering, a mother that is in pain, a brother that is in pain, sister that is in pain, sister that is in pain, and it is sad that the loss of this life might be the trigger for us to screen properly. But it is our hope that the Government springs into action and addresses the situation,” Dr Campbell said.

Attorney-at-Law Ronald Daniels, who is also an APNU member, said Guyanese must feel safe at home, and not live in fear that they too could be the subject similar attacks.

“We are in a state where, there is widespread insecurity in our country in terms of the Venezuelan population. As Mr Campbell would have indicated, we have no difficulties extending that humanitarian accommodation but proper documentation has to be done. We have to regularize the immigration situation, especially from a national security perspective,” Daniels said.

A full investigation into the deadly explosion is underway.

Demanding a thorough investigation, Mr. Daniels said the security forces should have the technological sources to track down the prime suspect.

“We are minded that the Government has CCTV facilities all across this country, especially in the city. And we are reliably informed that those cameras have facial recognition capacity. The legality of that is a totally different story. So, if the Government is serious about arresting these situations, they do have the facilities to do so. And we hope, that this incident, especially an incident to this magnitude that is certainly going to leave a lot of people uncomfortable, I personally am uncomfortable, I hope this does not suffer the fate of the other incidents,” Daniels said.

Using the footage from a nearby CCTV camera, the police released a blurry image of the prime suspect.

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