President announces higher fines and penalties for travelers who breach immigration rules

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Dr Irfaan Ali on Wednesday said that to enhance the country’s immigration and better manage movement in and out of the country, there will be enhanced legislation.

“There will be enhanced legislation for persons who fail to declare what is in their bags,” President Ali said.

The Head of State made this remark during his address at the Guyana Police Force’s Annual Officers’ Conference which is currently ongoing at Eve Leary.

According to Dr Ali, the burden for these defaults needs to be shifted to the people.

“So there would be higher fines and also penalty for persons who try to cheat the system,” Dr Ali said.

In addition to this, President Ali said the infrastructural system of the country’s port of entries are being enhanced.

“…with traceability, accountability and also with storage capacity so that we can have better security,” President Ali said.

To this end, he said the next phase of advancement at the ports will be the introduction of fully digitised scanner system.

Already, an online immigration form has been introduced to address the issue of long lines and waiting.

This, the President said has yielded results. “The online form is a breeze,” President Ali said.

However, he said the next issue that has to be addressed is clearance by customs which still results in long delays.