Georgetown: As part of government’s comprehensive security sector reform programme, the Customs Anti- Narcotic Unit’s (CANU) strength will be more than doubled. This is according to Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon, who at his weekly post- Cabinet briefing, said that this is just one aspect of CANU’s reform that builds on the commitment given in 2008, to undertake and fund security sector reform.
It will address the following, according to the Cabinet Secretary, a revised organogram with 50 new authorised positions. This, he said, will respond to the tasks, the functions and investigations, and prosecutions, and international collaboration in the fight against narco-trafficking.
The approval of job descriptions that will be applied to the aforementioned positions, along with the tenure and relativities of a salary structure, was also approved by Cabinet.
Under President Donald Ramotar’s watch, Dr Luncheon explained, that some of the widest and all embracing initiatives have occurred
“This extends to training, the creation of the SWAT team, the creation of the Special Organised Crime Unit, the enhancement of the National Intelligence Center, our secret service if you could call it that. Indeed the reform measures aggregately have presented a totally new and additional face to law enforcement and crime fighting in Guyana”.
The impact of the restructuring of CANU, which has made significant inroads in combating narcotics trafficking locally, he added, would be profound. The agency’s contributions over the short and medium term would more than outlive the rest of reform measures being put in place, he further added.
It is an incisive and timely intervention where law enforcement is concerned in Guyana, he stated. This process has begun; Dr Luncheon emphasised, and will be concluded by January 2015.
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