By Alva Solomon

AN EAST BANK Essequibo woman who was recognized as a trail blazer in the rice industry was burnt to death, along with her husband, on Sunday night in a fire which was allegedly set by bandits who had attacked their home.Dead is Bibi Jamila Munir, 69, and her husband Mohammed Munir, called Dak, 75, Lot 17, Good Hope Public Road, East Bank Essequibo. The couple was known to have been involved in rice farming for decades. They were the parents of five (5) children, including three adopted children, most of whom reside overseas.

The gutted remains of the Munirs’ home

According to a police release, the charred remains of the Munirs were found among the debris after the fire was extinguished.

According to reports, the Munirs were attacked by intruders at about 23:00hrs on Sunday. The bandits gained entry through the back of the couple’s home, relatives noted. The house is heavily grilled, and persons at the scene told this newspaper that the intruders set the house ablaze after the Munirs had locked themselves in a back room.

The Munirs were heard screaming for help, and soon after gunshots rang out in the house. Persons in the area tried desperately to gain entry to the burning house, but to no avail.

Police investigators were at the scene on Monday morning, while scores of relatives and friends gathered outside the gutted house.
According to a relative, on Sunday night, he was at home — a few doors away — when he was told that bandits had attacked the elderly couple. He said that when he arrived at the scene, the elderly woman was screaming for help while the house was engulfed in flames.

“She call out and said we must move the vehicles from underneath the house,” he said. He said that a large quantity of paddy which was stored in a room beneath the premises was destroyed by the fire.

The man noted that the woman had telephoned several persons while she and her husband had been under attack, including a popular West Demerara businessman who was reportedly the last person the woman had spoken to.

Persons at the scene noted that the room in which the couple met their demise is connected to adjoining bedrooms by two doors, and as such, they could not understand why the couple could not escape the blaze.

“Me try to go in, but the smoke and the flames was too much,” a relative noted. The man said that the couple rarely kept money on the premises, even though the persons they employed would have been paid over the weekend.

The Munirs were expected to harvest approximately 50 acres of rice in the coming weeks.
They are well known on the West Coast of Demerara, as well as in the Muslim community. Persons in the area noted that the Munirs had reportedly donated selflessly to the Good Hope Masjid.

General Secretary of the Rice Producers Association (RPA), Dharamkumar Seeraj, told the Guyana Chronicle that the couple’s death came as a shock to the rice farming fraternity. He said the two people were always seen together at rice forums.

In 2004, former Minister of Agriculture, the late Satyadeow “Sash” Sawh, had recognized Mrs Munir’s work in the rice industry and on the EBE by presenting her with the Award of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).

In 2007, the RPA had paid tribute to Mrs Munir when the body acknowledged her contribution as a businesswoman to the rice industry by featuring her in the quarterly edition of the magazine, “The Farmer”.

Seeraj said that he knew Mrs Munir since 1989, when he joined the rice industry, and according to him, the woman was actively involved in the development of rice at the time. Being a male-dominated industry, he said, the woman was always involved in managing the affairs of her rice fields.

He said she had also played a key role in the toll milling infrastructure which was set up at Vergenoegen on the EBE. “She would go there and overlook the operations,” Seeraj said.

He said Mrs Munir was also very involved in the functions of the RPA. “It’s a very big shock; Mrs Munir was full of life, always working,” Seeraj said, lamenting the brutal manner in which the Munirs had met their demise.

Police investigations in the matter are ongoing.