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A hassle-free Guyana
Apr 23, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
There is no system of secondary screening or examination of a person’s luggage in Guyana. There has never been such a system and it is therefore surprising to read that someone may have been recommended for a secondary examination of their luggage after having stopped at the immigration counter.
The Guyana Revenue Authority is distinct from the immigration services and therefore no immigration officer can recommend that there be a secondary examination of a person’s luggage.
There are such systems in other parts of the world. In Canada and the United States, for example, this happens. Those countries have major security and criminal risks and therefore protocols have been developed to facilitate secondary examinations. Guyana does not have such risks and therefore there has been no need to develop such systems.
It is important that this be known because a great many people are coming into Guyana for the Independence celebrations and they should be aware that the immigration and the customs are independent of each other.
Guyana, like most Caribbean countries, has a dual system of customs processing. If you have something to declare you go through one line; if you do not, you go through another line.
As in all countries, persons may, based on suspicion or randomness, be selected for examination of their person or their luggage. This is not a secondary examination because there was no primary assessment done before.
Guyana has to move away from the system of random checks. It has no place in modern practice. Even the traffic authorities in Guyana are doing away with such systems. All searches should be based on suspicion and intelligence, not randomness.
The customs officers in Guyana have always been a little too enthusiastic about their jobs. This is a problem that needs to be addressed because it seems to me as if they would like to tax someone for the most inexpensive of electrical items. In most countries there is a threshold of items which you can bring into the country, regardless of whether it is of electrical origin or not, without having to pay duties.
In most countries, this system is very flexible. In Guyana it is also flexible except that in Guyana when it comes to electrical items, there is always some issue as to whether it should be taxed.
The majority of passengers to Guyana experience no hassle and should not expect any hassle when coming to Guyana.
There was a time, of course, when everyone’s luggage was searched. This was during the years when imported food was restricted and banned.
You could not bring sardines and corned beef, apples, grapes and bread through the airports. The apprehensions from that period still seem to exist amongst some passengers but those days are long gone. Passengers no longer have to even travel with those items since they are readily available here.
Problems arise in two areas. The first area is a lack of professional training. Airports should be major revenue collectors for Customs. The primary concern should be about stopping the movement of prohibited and dangerous items such as weapons and drugs.
The old mindsets however are still around and at times there is unnecessary searching of person’s luggage into Guyana.
The second problem is lack of training of staff. No one should be questioned about their ethnic wear. Guyana is a multiethnic country and it is to be expected that some people will have clothing associated with their culture and religious beliefs.
Customs, immigration and police officials, generally have an “attitude” about them. They are not trained to be friendly enough to passengers while doing their jobs. They behave like mini-gods and this drives fear into some passengers.
Guyana needs to become a friendlier place for people to visit. The problem is not at the airports. The problem is when you leave the airports.
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