Another failed anti-crime campaign? Touts and robbers return in full force to Stabroek Square
It was just a few months ago that the Guyana Police Force promised a sustained campaign against minibus touts on the Stabroek bus parks.
It was also around that same time that police promised to get tough on criminals and their brazen attacks in the same area.
But both initiatives appear to have failed. The touts have returned in large numbers, and so, from all reports, have the criminals.
CHAOS CONTINUES
The cries of the innocent continue to ring out and persons are scared to traverse the Stabroek area especially at night, for fear of being pounced upon by criminal gangs, which often include attractive females who are used as bait to snare unsuspecting victims.
Male and female sex workers, who collude with the robbers, have returned. They operate in full view of the public just outside the perimeter fence of the Parliament Buildings, an area from which police had removed them.
For some strange reason, the police had failed to remove a particular confectionary stall from the Demico House area, even though criminal elements hang out at this particular stall at night. A police search had unearthed a quantity of ice picks, knives, and other instruments from the very stall. However, the stall operator, who reportedly also sells marijuana, was never arrested.
Food vendors plying their trade around the Stabroek area are in fear for their safety, as they claim that robbers and pick-pockets have now turned on them.
A few revealed they had resorted to walking with knives and even pepper spray to protect themselves.
One male food vendor said he now carries a ‘mortar stick’ (pestle).
After Kaieteur News had highlighted the problem of touts harassing passengers on the bus parks, Traffic Chief, Lynden Isles had promised to post ranks at each minibus park. Many touts were arrested and some were even charged.
But the touts have since returned in full force and minibus drivers have again resorted to parking where they please.
The articles had also prompted police patrols, and ranks in vehicles had picked up several known criminals from the area.
But this campaign lasted for just a few weeks.