Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes want to see the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) doing more to monitor operations in the interior where suspected shops are being used to harbour human trafficking victims.
“Being the minister in this Ministry now is one of the things I am going to put an end to, is that these alleged traffickers who got these shops, take these young girls, trafficked, go to the courts in the past, pay big money, walk the streets and go back into the interior and conduct the same business again” Broomes said during an interview with News Room.
The Minister believes human traffickers should no longer be able to use their businesses as a cover to trick young girls and woman into selling their bodies for money, as she expressed her dissatisfaction with the way the GGMC is failing to enforce its regulations for such operations in the country’s mining districts.
“Women are not animals, they have to be respected” Broomes affirmed. She told News Room that discussions were held with the Commissioner in this regard.
She said she is not against people having businesses but it must be done according to the laws of the land and should never be used to exploit another person.
Former President of the Guyana Women Miners Organization (GWMO), Broomes is of the opinion that recently accused human trafficker, Patricia Williams who was charged before as Patricia Crossman for a similar act is the perfect example for better monitoring of businesses in the interior. As such, she believed that offenders should never be able to obtain another shop license.
Broomes also want to see the judicial system using all aspects of the 2005 human trafficking Act to protect victims. One such aspect is the payment to the victim which she lobbies should be millions of dollars since the offenders often time find the large sums to pay bribes.
Patricia Williams is the latest accused to find herself before the courts for trafficking of a 15-year-old girl for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Allegations against the woman suggest that the act was committed on June 1, and July 30, 2016, in Region Seven after being caught earlier this month.
Williams has since pleaded not guilty and was remanded until the matter is called in the Mahdia Magistrates Court on January 17
