Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 07, 2018 News
– Public Security Minister
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, said yesterday that Friday’s raid at the Diamond Bar and Hotel in Georgetown is part of a wider ongoing plan to crackdown on suspected strip clubs and their associated illegal activities of human trafficking and prostitution.
The Minister told Kaieteur News that the next move is to secure the cooperation of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to revoke the liquor licences for establishments found to be involved in the illegal activities.
Multiple agencies, including several armed police officers descended on the Diamond premises at George Street, Georgetown with a 30-seater bus along with several other vehicles. Investigators took 48 persons into custody, including 41 foreigners. Most of those arrested were women.
“We intend to go after those who we suspect to be trafficking in humans for sexual and labour exploitation. We have been getting information that individuals, like the owner of Diamond, have been involved and of course this information has come from the Police Force,” Minister Ramjattan stated.
He also noted that the crackdown is in keeping with the Ministerial Task Force on Trafficking in Persons (TIP) action plan which is to conduct various interdiction exercises.
CLOSING THE BARS
Minister Ramjattan said that the Government is strong in its resolve to tackle the issues surrounding the strip clubs by demonstrating a willingness to go after the liquor licences issued to the bars by the GRA.
In some cases, the bars are being used as a cover for the women to solicit sex.
“Not only must we go to the criminal law section in the Trafficking in Person Act, but we must do a wider range of penalties like asking GRA to seize the liquor licences of the clubs. We can’t make these activities profitable because then is when you get more and more trafficking happening.
“We are not going to allow it. We have zero tolerance for trafficking in persons, sexual and labour exploitation of young girls from across our South American and Caribbean Territories,” Minister Ramjattan stated.
The Minister continued, “We are going to give it a big fight and if the fight extends to closing down bars like the Diamond Bar then we will be asking the GRA to do that because I am certain that there is some condition or term of the license that they have been breaching when they are going to allow their bar to have 41 young girls which are going to indulge in all sort of activities that are criminal.”
NO LEAKS
Minister Ramjattan stated that based on the information he has received from the investigators, there was active surveillance carried out on the Diamond Hotel and Bar which revealed the presence of many girls from across the Caribbean and Venezuela.
As the raid was planned, officers were worried that leaked information would feed back to the owners of Diamond. Minister Ramjattan commended the officers involved for their professionalism in keeping the information concealed.
“I am very glad, too, that the police did not get any leak out to that bar so that they could have then spirited the girls away and to avoid the kind of successful raid we had,” Ramjattan stated.
The Minister assured that law enforcement officials will have more profound surveillance activities done in 2018 because Guyana wants to maintain its Tier 1 rating on the United States Department of State’s Annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.
“We may be deficient in certain areas, but successful prosecutions after the investigation must happen so that we can maintain our Tier One status. We don’t want to be seen as a pariah state that is allowing the exploitation of human beings to be done for the wealth creation of a couple of proprietors,” the Minister pointed out.
He said more awareness programmes are planned to encourage the community to provide information to law enforcement officials on suspected TIP cases. He stated that it was information received from the public that assisted with the Diamond raid.
Asked about the public views that the strip clubs around Guyana are known, Minister Ramjattan noted that the public will have lots to say.
“The chattery will chat. Let them chat, they don’t want to join and work for the police, but they want the police to do everything. Just like parrot, they are going to say please hit the ball donkey, hit the ball, but they don’t want to come bat the ball like donkey; especially, when you ask them to give a statement so they can go to court, they don’t want to do it.”
“We are certainly dealing with the criticisms and hopefully right thinking members of the community are going to give us the kudos when we are deserving of the kudos like what happened on Friday,” Ramjattan said.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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