Meanwhile, the graduation at UG's Tain Campus
scheduled for today has been postponed until further
notice.
Hundreds of people who were travelling to and
from the Corentyne area yesterday, including Guysuco
workers, sales persons, market vendors, lawyers and
doctors, were stranded on either side of the
conflagration and unrest. Two hearses carrying
bodies were unable to pass; one turned back but the
other remained, hoping the residents would put out
the fire and clear the roads. A GPL disconnection
crew van was among the vehicles waiting.
Hundreds of protesting residents of Tain, Port
Mourant and neighbouring villages stood on the road
airing their grievances as the tyres blazed and
smoked. The police were visible but they kept their
distance.
According to reports, there were four robberies
none of which had seen any arrests made. And
residents said yesterday that they had caught
"a couple of black clothes policemen in the act
of stealing". The police were unable to confirm
this.
Around 7 am yesterday, some market vendors with
perishable goods successfully carried their
belongings on their heads past the blockade as no
vehicles could pass. However, by 9.30 am the entire
road was covered with fire and no one could even
walk past. The residents had blocked the main road
between Miss Phoebe, Port Mourant and Tain at the
bridge which passes over a large canal. They also
destroyed two smaller bridges over canals some
distance away from the road, preventing persons from
walking over.
The protestors, who included school children,
bore slogans such as "Give us guns. We will
protect ourselves." And "We want police
patrol, not bandit patrol"
Around 11 am, the Home Affairs Minister arrived
to help resolve the problem. The minister made her
way onto a tractor which already had a microphone
and speaker attached. She apologized to the
residents for not visiting them at an earlier date
as she said she was just acting Home Affairs
Minister at the time. She noted that the crime
situation was a serious one and then listened as a
number of residents spoke about those officers they
felt were corrupt.
Integrity
One representative of the residents of
Bloomfield, Port Mourant, Tain and other
neighbouring areas on the Corentyne told the
minister that they wanted the police from Albion and
Whim removed. Police from Whim were removed on a
previous occasion when residents protested. He said
the residents wanted policeman David Ramnarine
returned to the area as when he was around crime was
down.
One woman who was robbed told the minister that
she recognized black clothes policemen as the
robbers because when she saw the thieves from the
pants down they had on black boots and pants like
those type of officers.
Others told about the police searching the
pockets of persons they arrested and robbing them of
items.
They said that sometimes when they called the
police the telephones would ring out. They said that
residents who had no money received no help from the
police.
Responding, Teixeira told the residents that
someone had made a proposal to have an inquiry and
that in order to do so they must gather evidence and
persons needed to give names of those officers who
they felt were corrupt for a proper investigation to
be carried out. She further stated that to remove
all the police from the region would leave the door
open to dangerous criminals.
She added that changes would have to be made and
noted the need for a community policing group with
persons of integrity.
It was then agreed that a meeting would be held
at the Tain Primary School to address some of the
issues raised.
The meeting began with the minister, Regional
Chairman of Region Six, Kumkarran Ramdass; Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Wills; and Commander, C.
Conway seated at the head table and residents
sharing their various experiences.
Hit-list
The residents were asked to give specific
evidence as to when and where they had been robbed,
raped or compelled to give money to members of the
police force for services. However, as they began to
do so, someone stood up and announced: "if
people start to give evidence them names gon be on
the police hit-list".
The minister then asked that a committee be
formed to look into this but chaos erupted as some
residents were vociferously not in favour with some
of the nominees named.
Next, the minister managed to get consensus among
some of the residents at the meeting that the fire
would be put out. However, when word of this got to
the protestors on the road, they threw more tyres
onto the fire.
Members of the Guyana Fire Service who were
standing by then attempted to put out the blaze. But
the protestors relieved them of their hose and added
it to the fire.
Protestors told Stabroek News that the bandits
tended to target people who arrived from abroad. Up
to yesterday afternoon fires continued to burn on
the road. However, some persons were able to move
across on both sides of the fire via a bridge.
Running away
Three armed bandits early Thursday morning
attacked the Edwin Parsaram Gas Station at Port
Mourant and escaped with some $400,000. This was one
of the incidents that sparked the unrest. Police
responded but did not to shoot at the criminals as
they were near to the gas station and they said they
feared an explosion.
Owner of the gas station, Pamela Kissoon and
other residents lamented the action by the police
and tension grew.
Commenting on the incident, Felix said ranks
responded to the report of a robbery on Thursday
morning. He said a mobile patrol was dispatched to
the area and when they were about 75 metres away
from the gas station they saw three men running
away. Felix said according to reports some of the
ranks wanted to shoot at the fleeing bandits, but
they were restrained because of the close proximity
of the gas station.
He said when the police arrived at the gas
station, instead of going after the bandits they
decided to go into the building to untie a security
guard and a pump attendant. He said this action
angered residents who felt that the police should
have given chase. This is also a frequent criticism
of the police in other parts of the country such as
Georgetown.
According to the commissioner, because of the
police action, some residents are alleging that the
bandits themselves were policemen and ranks on the
patrol were trying to shield them. "But I am
saying now if the residents can identify the
suspects as being a policeman or policemen we will
deal with them condignly," Felix declared.
Asked about a report that protesters had detained
a few policemen caught stealing, Felix said there
were no such reports. He said the only persons who
were detained were the guard and the attendant. He
however acknowledged that there was a report of a
policeman found handcuffed at the robbery scene.
On their operation yesterday, the commissioner
said there was no need to send back-up ranks from
Georgetown to handle the situation.
Crime in Berbice has always been a problem for
the police force and recently there was a shake-up
in the administration following daily robberies.
Assistant commissioner, Ivelaw Whittaker was removed
as Commander and Cecil Conway took over. There was a
brief lull in crime. Felix said there had been some
improvements in the general crime situation in the
division. He told reporters that crime was usually
very low in West Berbice and New Amsterdam.
"There are now-and-then attacks in these areas
but not many. The situation in the West Berbice and
New Amsterdam is okay," Felix said.
However, he noted that criminal activity on the
Lower Corentyne has always been an issue. Felix said
it was only on Wednesday there was a discussion on
the issue. He said they have mobile patrols working
but acknowledged that the situation needs to
improve.
Yesterday's protest was reminiscent of the August
16, 2001 demonstration that started outside of the
Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) headquarters at
Corriverton following the killing of three men by
BASS. This protest continued and turned violent on
August 17 when persons inside the BASS headquarters
opened fire on the protesters who had been stoning
the building. Two persons died as a result of the
shooting from within BASS while three others died
when an ambulance transporting persons injured in
the accident overturned on the way to the New
Amsterdam Hospital.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, who was out of the
country then as he is now, held a meeting with
residents on his return. An investigation was to be
launched into the BASS incidents but it is unclear
whether this was done and no report was ever
released.