John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
ROUGHLY 25 PER cent of security guard companies operating locally are neither registered nor licensed by the Private Securities Registration Authority (PSRA), The Gleaner has learnt.
Samuel Laing, operations manager of the PSRA said that about 52 of the 210 companies known to be operating are non-compliant.
"Most of those we have spoken to, are not tax compliant. If they don't file their tax (returns) they can't register, that is their greatest problem," Laing said.
He said the PSRA has also found out that many security companies are not paying over statutory deductions.
STIPULATED REGULATION
Senator Kern Spencer, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of National Security recently gave notice that the ministry would be clamping down on those companies which continue to operate in breach of the stipulated regulations. "The ministry has been alerted that there are elements operating within the private security industry, that are not in compliance with the PSRA, and are operating without appropriate licenses," he said.
Mr. Laing explained that based on the current regulations, the PSRA can take delinquent operators to court to force them to comply. Court action aside, the PSRA can impose a $3,000 fine on companies that register 60 days after the expiry date. This, according to Laing, was not stringent enough.
He said: "We cannot prosecute on our own and this is one thing we are asking to be amended so that inspectors here could lead their own prosecution. The PSRA now depends on the police but Laing argues that this was not as effective.
GOVERNING THE OPERATIONS
Senator Spencer has warned that "persons found operating in breach of the law in this regard will face the full brunt of the law" even more so when the Act governing the operations of security companies is amended and the role of the PSRA augmented to provide effective supervision of the industry.
