The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) claims to be investigating a “people smuggling racket” and other forms of corruption at the Ministry of Citizenship.
Whether there are indeed cases of people smuggling was not proven this afternoon as Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, hosted his weekly press conference. However, Jagdeo highlighted discrepancies that he believed were worth looking into.
The former President highlighted several ads in the state’s newspaper, Guyana Chronicle, that point to occurrences he describes as “troubling.” Jagdeo held photocopied newspaper clippings of the ads that attracted his party’s attention.
He pointed to the fact that on February 5, 2019, an advertisement indicating the application for naturalisation of one Gabriel St. Juste of Burma Mahaicony Lot 56 East Coast Demerara. But then, two days later, the same photograph appeared in the newspaper. This time, the man was named Daniel Garcia Farres of lot 10 Norton Street, Cemetery Road Georgetown.
This discrepancy was not the only case cited.
On March 29, a notice was published about the desire of Hajime Beltran Abreu to apply for naturalisation. However, Jagdeo noted that the same photo appeared in the same newspaper days before – on March 27 – with the name Rubesh Abdus.
Jagdeo then brought to the media attention that the same addressed used for Hajime Abreu — lot 39 Owen Street Kitty, Georgetown — was used on March 29 for a Julio Antonio Beltran.
The former President is directing serious accusations against the Ministry of Citizenship. He told the media, “This cannot be a mistake; this is a pattern and it is happening right before our eyes at Chronicle and they believe that people are not seeing it because most of us do not pay attention to this issue.”
Jagdeo further stated that, “We believe that a lot of people are being smuggled through Guyana and that, within the department of Citizenship, in the Ministry of the Presidency, there is an enormous cesspool of corruption.
