Highlighting the growing threat of organised crime in the region, Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces, President Dr Irfaan Ali, has called on the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to embrace a broader mandate that goes beyond safeguarding borders.
In an address at the GDF’s Annual Officers’ Conference, President Ali urged the soldiers to act as “guardians” of the nation’s resources and development.
“You operate in a hemisphere where security threats are fluid, layered, and increasingly complex.
“Transnational crime, organised trafficking, and cyber threats have not taken a holiday. Transnational criminal networks are regional threats that must be confronted and removed from our hemisphere because they endanger security, slow development, and erode the harmony of our country,” President Ali said.
President Ali also warned that the growth of the nation’s resources comes with increased threats.
“With Guyana expanding oil production within its EEZ (exclusive economic zone), we have seen escalating threats by those who long-eyed our territory and falsely claim some fictional, historical lien to it. Within our land, there is a threat to our gold and other minerals from illegal mining. Within our rich forest and biodiversity, there is a need to shield our wildlife from illicit trafficking, and in our airspace, we have to protect it from transnational criminals,” the Head of State noted.
And so, he posited that national defence is now inseparable from protecting national assets.
“To protect national assets is an act of nation building, ensuring what belongs to Guyana is preserved and transformed into real improvement in the lives of our people,” he said.
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