President pledges support to stop drug trafficking

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

Guyana yesterday pledged "strong political will" in dealing with drug trafficking and money laundering.

"We also appreciate how important it is in addressing macroeconomic stability and also in addressing the rumours and allegations about money laundering and the parallel economy in Guyana; the rumours seem to be getting more intense these days," President Donald Ramotar told a Financial Crimes Stakeholder workshop.

Ramotar told delegates to the conference, co-sponsored by the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union, that Guyana needed to address corruption at both the public and private sectors.

"We have to deal with it from both ends. We must make this intolerable. We must make the morality of our society strong enough for anyone to resist giving a bribe and for any official to resist accepting a bribe," he said.

Ramotar said that he was also seeking opposition support for new anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism laws the government intends to bring to deal with the situation.

"Our actions are not only because we want to meet our international commitment and our international treaty obligations but it's also important for the moral life in our society - fighting against these corruptions that these things bring about," he said.

United States Ambassador Brent Hardt said Washington welcomed Guyana's commitment to fight trans-boundary crimes.

"We appreciate Guyana's willingness to work with us and with its Caribbean neighbours to investigate and prosecute corruption, enforce anti-bribery laws, fight money laundering, and deny safe haven to illicit assets.

"We stand ready to support Guyana's commitment to strip criminals of their illicit wealth and sever their access to the global financial system," he added.