‘C’ Division ranks of the Guyana Police Force have arrested a 46-year-old fisherman in whose Annandale, East Coast Demerara home they discovered 218 live rounds of both .45 and 9mm ammunition during a search of the premises on Thursday at about 11:45h.
Based on police reports, in searching the home, ranks were acting on information received; and they have since arrested the fisherman, who remains in custody assisting with the investigation.

POLICE are hunting for a suspect “Chokadag” following the fatal stabbing of a fisherman at Meadow Bank Wharf, East Bank Demerara (EBD) on Thursday night during a fracas.

Police said they are making stringent efforts to apprehend the male suspect who is alleged to have fatally stabbed a fisher monger. A probe revealed that the victim, Chan Wen Wong, 42, of Lot 14 Seaforth Street, Campbellville, and the suspect had a quarrel which resulted in a physical confrontation.

They were parted by onlookers and the victim walked away only to be pursued by the suspect who whipped out a sharp object and stabbed him to the left region of his chest and fled the scene.

Wong collapsed after being injured and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The body is presently at the Lyken’s Funeral Parlour awaiting a post-mortem examination. A visit to the man’s residence in Campbellville saw no one at the apartment which is occupied by a group of Chinese nationals, who are employed at Mei Tung Restaurant which is located on the second floor of Buddy’s Building on Sheriff Street.
At the Chinese eating house, employees said that Wong was a cook at the restaurant some years ago, but quit and turned to fishing and used to be at sea for long periods.
Employees added that Wong who used to hang around the wharf area when he was not at sea, came to Guyana as a child with his Chinese parents who have since passed away. They related that his parents had a business in the North West and after they died Wong came to the city and he was a cook at the restaurant for some time.
Police told the Guyana Chronicle that the suspect is known to law enforcement officials and efforts are being made to locate him.

… attacks 8 Berbice homes

Residents of East Coast Berbice communities between Palmyra and Seawell in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) were shocked to learn that a man, released on Thursday after serving prison time for larceny, had plundered at least eight homes within a space of three hours, spanning the late evening hours of Thursday and the early morning hours of Friday.
Now safely back in the custody of law enforcement personnel, the man, when apprehended, was found with two bulky bags containing items from villagers’ homes.

The first reported breakage was in the village of Seawell, where Lolita Ramdass discovered that someone had removed several louvre panes from her window and had entered the lower flat of her two-storey building. The discovery was made at about 07:00h on Friday, when her granddaughter went to the lower flat and discovered both doors open.
Ramdass said items had been removed from her refrigerator, along with household items and three bags containing small sums of money. She also reported missing a cellular phone and its charger.
As Ramdass raised an alarm, persons from the back of the village who were on their way to work found several household items packed in a bag, and partly-used bottles of beverage nearby. A check revealed that some of the items belonged to her.
Askam Ally, who lives two houses away from Ramdass, was reportedly awoken from sleep at about 22:00h on Thursday by strange sounds in his Lot 5 Sewell home. Ally explained that he opened the door and confronted the person, who made a dash for the gate, and picked up a bicycle he had leaning on the fence. On that bicycle was a bulky bag.
And at about 02:00h on Friday, Annan Ajab, also called “Sham,” of Lot 59 Palmyra, said he was awoken but a strange sound; and upon checking, discovered that someone was using a flashlight to search one of his cars. He said that by the time he went out into the yard, the person had departed, but he discovered that two of his cars were broken into and items, including money and a cellular phone, had gone missing.
Ajab said the police were contacted, and after several checks in the community, they found a man walking a short distance away. The man was carrying two bulky bags. Further checks revealed that there were household and personal items in those bags. Several residents were later able to identify some of the items in those bags.
Ajab related that police also found a bicycle parked in a street with a bulky bag hanging on the handle.
Ricky Gowkarran of Lot 57 Palmyra said he was called out, and on his way to the gate, he discovered that his bicycle had been stolen. It was later discovered that the bicycle which was found with a heavy bag belonged to him.
Oma Karram of Lot 43 Palmyra said that when she got up, she discovered that someone had broken into her home and had partly emptied her refrigerator, and had removed a number of other items from her kitchen.
Some of the missing articles were found to be in the bags which the man was carrying when he was nabbed.
Vindud Ramnauth explained that he had heard a strange sound during the night, and later found that someone had removed three boots and other items from the shoe rack in his Lot 83 Palmyra Village home. Someone had also broken the window of his car, but had not entered the vehicle. The boots were among the items recovered in the bags.
A car belonging to Steve Samaroo of Lot 47 Palmyra Village was also broken into on Friday morning, but nothing was stolen therefrom.
Meanwhile, only some of the items discovered in the bags have been claimed by villagers between Palmyra and Seawell, East Coast Berbice.

… undergoes surgery after intestine protruded

The Police are now investigating the circumstances surrounding a 13-year-old being rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) after he was allegedly pelted with a knife by his mother.
The teen of Agricola, Greater Georgetown, was rushed to the medical facility in an unconscious state on Saturday last, this publication was told.
Guyana Times understands the lad underwent emergency surgery after the knife allegedly struck his intestine.
According to reports, after the woman pelted her son with the knife, it stuck into his side and upon seeing this, the woman proceeding to pull the knife out. It was after the knife was removed that the teen’s intestines protruded through the wound. The teen then fell unconscious. He was picked up and rushed to the medical facility.
However, it is still unclear what prompted the woman to carry out the act.
Speaking with this publication, A Division (Georgetown-East Bank Demerara) Commander, Marlon Chapman said he was informed that a different report was given to the Police.
According to Chapman, the mother of the teenager is alleging that she sent her son to pick breadfruit from a tree in their yard. However, when the young man was returning, he fell onto a zinc sheet that was lying beneath the tree and cut himself.
Chapman revealed that the mother denied committing the act.
Reports indicate neighbours of the family reported to the Police that the woman indeed threw the knife at the boy, but the woman is claiming that because she and her neighbours are not on speaking terms, they made the allegation against her.
Meanwhile, Director of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA), Ann Greene has since said an investigation into the matter is ongoing and will provide updates as they are provided to her.

… 7 recaptured

…PPP/C expresses concern over latest disaster

Joining the four criminals that are already on the run, another 13 prisoners

escaped from the Lusignan penitentiary between Sunday evening and Monday morning, literally slipping out from under the nose of a Joint Services operation.

Among these 13 men, 10 were charged for murder, while one was charged for attempted murder and two for armed robbery. The murder accused are Clive Forde, Pascal Smith, Kerry Cromwell, Odel Roberts, Kendell Skeet, Rayon Jones, Jason Howard, Shawn Harris, Paul Goriah and Jamal Forde. The armed robbery accused are Teshawn McKenzie and Winston Long, while the attempted murder accused is Jamal Joseph.

By late Monday evening, Roberts, Jamal Forde, Jones, Long, Howard, McKenzie and Jamal Joseph were recaptured. Three were caught at Agriculture Road, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, including Forde; and two others were caught in Georgetown. Howard was later recaptured in North East La Penitence, Georgetown while Joseph was caught in South Ruimveldt.

It is believed that the men escaped from the swampy pasture of the Lusignan Prison by digging a hole under the perimeter fence. The hole is about five feet in length and another five feet in depth.

While there are three layers of security at the penitentiary, the men were able to escape presumably during the downpour in the wee hours of Sunday.

The first layer of security, Guyana Times understands, is the actual prison security. Then there are the Police ranks who are overlooking the criminals, and outside the parameter are members of the Guyana Defence Force.

The Guyana Prison Service has come in for harsh criticism after it was revealed that the exterior of the prison had thick vegetation, which the men used to their advantage.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, who appeared on the state owned National Communications Network (NCN) to speak to the nation, said a joint services’ operation codenamed ‘Clean Sweep’ has been intensified to recapture the fugitives, as well as the four who are still on the run following the fire at the Camp Street Prison.

Nevertheless, the Minister explained that there were 99 inmates in total in the swampy holding area, 13 of whom have escaped; but he said the remaining 86 will be transferred to the brick prison at Camp Street which has been sufficiently completed to securely hold them.

However, since the escape of the prisoners, Police have been combing the backlands along the East Coast of Demerara, and army and Police ranks have been stopping and searching vehicles along the East Coast Highway. In addition, security presence in the community of Lusignan has been beefed up; but the residents are still in fear. And in success, ECD, members of the joint services have been urging residents not to go into the backdam.

The escapees have now joined the Camp Street escapees: Royden Durant, aka Smallie; Uree Varswyck, aka “Malcolm Gordon”; Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander and Corbena Stephens.

Disaster

Meanwhile, the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic has, in a statement, expressed its deepest concerns over the latest “disaster to have befallen this nation.” The release stated that most dangerous prisoners escaped the pasture in which they were corralled at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, and this is the latest tragedy that has catapulted the nation into even greater fear.

The matter, the opposition highlighted, is compounded by the fact that the present Government is manifestly incapable of saying or doing anything to allay the fear and trauma that have gripped Guyana.

“Will they still ludicrously contend that they inherited this situation from the PPP/C Government?” the PPP asked.

As such, the PPP/C reiterates its continued support for the members of the Disciplined Forces, and has urged them to expend their best efforts in seeking to capture all the escapees, so that Guyana can return to some degree of normalcy.

Forty-one-year-old businessman Rakish Harold, also called Anil, his wife Nadia, 41, and their 21-year-old son Andrew were, in the wee hours of Monday, forced to vacate their home at Lot 41 Number 73 Village, Corentyne Berbice, jumping 10 feet from their verandah into a neighbour’s yard, where they sought refuge as a group of heavily-armed bandits invaded their home with intentions to plunder and pillage.

Despite going to such lengths to evade the invaders, however, their efforts to escape injury were in vain, as the businessman and his wife received injuries to their feet as a result of them jumping off the shed; and, upon seeing them fleeing, the bandits discharged several rounds at the victims, hitting Rakesh in the right region of his body as he attempted to climb down a post to lessen the distance he had to jump. They are now patients at a regional hospital, being treated for the injuries they had sustained in the ordeal.
At the time of the invasion, the three family members were asleep in the lower flat of their two-storey building. The businessman told this publication he could not say how many men had entered his home, but there were at least six men, all armed with guns. He noted that none of the men was masked, and all were armed with guns.
According to the businessman, a steel door had thwarted the bandits’ attempt to gain access into the house, hence they entered the home by way of a window in the kitchen. The bandits reportedly used a ‘wallaba post’ to smash the glass window and grill to the bottom flat of the building; and when they realised that they were going to enter the home, the family fled to the upper flat, securing a metal door on the way. However, upon entering the home, the men discharged several rounds on the door to break it open.
“When I see that, we decide to go in the bedroom and lock up; and then I said, ‘No, they gon come in here and kill us’. So we run out before they reach upstairs, and open the veranda grill, and my wife and son, they jump straight in the neighbour yard.”
Nursing a permanent injury, Rakish Harold could not do likewise, and as he was climbing down a post, he sustained gunshot injury. Nevertheless, he headed for the fence, and scaled it as shots rang out behind him. He made it to a neighbour’s house, where he sought refuge and was taken to the Police Station.
The businessman explained that he was taken to the Springlands Police Station drenched in blood, leaving the bandits ransacking his house.

“When I reach the station I see about six Police, all of them with long guns, and they want me to give them my name and address and to tell them what happen, and the men still in my house. I tell them we got transportation to take them…”
He said his neighbour then took him to the Skeldon Hospital and ensured that he was being attended to before returning to the Police station by which time the officers were ready to go.
However, by the time the Police arrived on the scene the men had escaped.
Meanwhile, his wife Nadira Harold sustained a fractured leg when she jumped off the veranda. She was taken to the Skeldon Hospital, from whence they both were transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Rakish Harold was later discharge while his wife was admitted. Andrew Harold, who was also injured when he jumped from the ten feet of the veranda, was treated at the Skeldon Hospital and sent away.
This publication understands that the couple returned from the US three weeks ago with plans to expand their business.
Police in a release have said that three shotgun-toting bandits early Monday morning entered the home of a Corentyne family and carted off an undisclosed amount of cash and gold jewellery, during which the family of three fled their home by jumping off a shed.
According to the police release, among the items removed from the home was the surveillance footage from sixteen cameras which are strategically placed around the house.
Police are investigating this incident.

Eighteen-year-old Marlon Jeffery, an Agricola resident who escaped from police

guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) on Wednesday last, was recaptured on Sunday morning, reportedly hiding in a barrel at a house in Brutus Street in that East Bank Demerara community.

Police Public Relations Officer Jairam Ramlakhan told Guyana Times that four other persons found in the home, two of whom are females, were also taken into police custody.
Jeffery, also called “Melvor Jeffery” and “Buck”, of Lot 120 Agricola, EBD, was sometime last week apprehended by police allegedly for possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition, and to answer two counts of discharging a loaded firearm.
In the police’s efforts to arrest Jeffery, the teenager had reportedly opened fire on the law-enforcement officials, and in that exchange of gunfire, the teen had sustained a gunshot injury to his back, thus he was hospitalised under police guard at the GPHC.
The teenager was, reportedly for some time, planning his escape from lawful custody, since pieces of female clothing and a wig were found in the vicinity of his hospital bed. He had also left a short trail of blood after he had pulled out the tubes attached to the back of his hand in order to escape.
The rank tasked with guarding Jeffery has since been placed under close arrest, after he allegedly had left his guarding post to go sleep, thus giving the suspect an opportunity to escape.

Police in B Division (Berbice) have arrested two persons after they were found in possession of an illegal firearm along with matching ammunition.

According to Police reports, ranks on patrol duty on Sunday morning around 01:30h, stopped and searched a motor car on the Crabwood Creek Public Road.
During the search, the Police Officers discovered an unlicensed .38 revolver and five live matching rounds.
The two occupants of the vehicle, one of whom is a Caribbean national, were subsequently arrested and taken into Police custody. They are currently being processed for court.

A 58-year-old businessman is now hospitalised at a private medical facility after he was shot during a robbery under arms committed at his home in North Success, East Coast Demerara.
Based on information received, the incident took place around 03:00h on Sunday.
Investigations revealed that the man and his wife arrived home after an outing in their motor car, PLL 1392. As they were in the process of entering the house, two males pounced on them. One was reportedly armed with a handgun, and the other with a cutlass.
During a brief scuffle with the businessman, the gunman reportedly discharged a round, injuring him while the second bandit bashed him over the head with the cutlass.
The bandits then dragged the victims into the house and demanded cash and valuables. They also ransacked the home as they sought to take everything of value.
Guyana Times understands that the men then fled the scene with an undisclosed sum of loot as well as the 58-year-old’s Toyota Rav4 vehicle.
Presently, no one is in Police custody for the armed robbery. Investigations are ongoing.

A Better Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) family has been left traumatised after they were terrorised by a group of bandits late Saturday night.
The incident occurred some time after 23:30h.
Guyana Times understands that the family had a small birthday party at their Lot 55 Zohora Street, Better Hope residence, and were cleaning up afterwards when three masked men – including one armed with a gun and another with a cutlass – scaled their fence and ran up into the house, where they beat and terrorised the occupants before making off with a quantity of cosmetic jewellery.
Speaking with this publication, Christine Ramnarain related that it was her 38th birthday and she hosted a small social for a few relatives and close friends. The woman said that her daughter and a few relatives were on the veranda sitting while she and her aunt were in the house.
“I decided to lie on the chair and rest when these three men just run through the door. They come straight to me and start beating me in the head. Then, the one with the gun went in one of the (two) rooms and the other who didn’t had any weapon go in the other room and they ransack it,” she recalled, noting that the one with the cutlass remained with her.
The woman added that shortly after, the gunman returned saying that there was nothing valuable in the room and continued hitting her.
“He put the gun to my head – you could see his hand trembling – and he said “how you ain’t get money and your husband working…” but like he was frighten, so the one with the cutlass push him away. He start lash me, saying ‘don’t make a sound’,” the traumatised woman recounted to this newspaper.
According to Ramnarain, all this was happening while her cousins and daughter on the veranda were unaware of what was transpiring inside. Her husband was asleep in the downstairs apartment, along with her four other children. She continued that after about 30 strokes to her head, she could not take the pain anymore and started to scream. This alerted the others.
“The pain get overbearing, so I decided to scream to let them children know to lock up and hide. Now after my cousins them hear, they get up from the veranda to come see what happened, but the cutlass bandit run out to them and tell them don’t say a word,” the woman related.
The gunman then joined his accomplice out on the veranda while the unarmed bandit remained with her. She added that shortly after the two armed men left and scaled the fence, leaving the third accomplice behind in the house. However, as he made his way down the stairs, Ramnarain’s husband was coming upstairs to check on his wife, but after seeing the bandit, he ran back inside the downstairs apartment and secured himself with the children inside. The bandit then made good his escape.

The ordeal lasted for less than 10 minutes, but left not only the family members living there traumatised but their visitors as well. Ramnarain said they could not sleep the entire night and her younger children were up all night crying.
Meanwhile, her eldest daughter related to Guyana Times that when the bandits confronted them on the veranda, they demanded all their valuables. However, most of the guests were wearing cosmetic jewellery that appeared to be gold and so they handed them over to the men. The cutlass-wielding bandit then struck two bottles that were on a table, shattering them and in the process, ended up broadsiding one of the guests on her hand and head.
This publication was told that when the men scaled the fence and ran up the stairs, they were seen by a neighbour, who contacted the Police. However, the ranks and the Community Policing Group (CPG) members in the area arrived about 10 minutes after the bandits left.

A young father of one was on Monday morning kidnapped, beaten, and robbed by bandits after which he was locked in the trunk of his car at Zeelugt New Scheme, West Coast Demerara (WCD).
The man has been identified as 23-year-old Rajendra Narine of Parika, East Bank Essequibo.
According to information Guyana Times received, Narine parked his Toyota Premio motor car in front of a bank in Parika and left to run an errand.
However, while returning to his car, he noticed two males sitting on a nearby bridge, but paid them no mind.

Narine then proceeded to enter his vehicle and drove off, but was forced to stop when motor vehicle PTT 5888 drove into his path.
The two men who were seen sitting on the bridge entered Narine’s vehicle and one demanded that he hand over a bag, which supposedly contained $600,000.
He relayed to this publication that he informed the men that he was unaware of any such money, but was further traumatised when the driver of the car that stopped him entered the vehicle with a gun and demanded that he drive.
The masked men took Narine to a location aback Zeelugt where they further demanded the money and threatened to kill him if he did not comply.
He told this newspaper, “They ask me ‘bout three times and them seh them gon shoot me and kill meh…Them lash me in the right side knee at the back and them ask me fuh the $600,000 and meh seh me nah know bout $600,000, them mistake me, and them nah answer…And then them seh they gon shoot meh and kill meh.”
Narine was then beaten about his body by the three men who even fired a gunshot a short distance away from his feet.
However, they subsequently knocked him unconscious and placed him in the trunk of his car when they noticed a truck proceeding in their direction.
The robbery victim awakened some time later and made contact with his family after realising that his phone was still in his pocket.
His brother reported the incident to the Police and was accompanied by a Police Officer, who visited the crime scene and released Narine from the car trunk.
Upon inspection, it was revealed that the gunmen had stolen Narine’s $85,000 car instalment as well as $3000 in change before making good their escape.
A report was made by Narine to the Parika and Leonora Police Stations. The matter is currently being investigated and a manhunt was launched for the gunmen.

A Police Constable and his family members are now left in a traumatised state after ranks in a Joint Services operation invaded his home and allegedly beat him.
The incident reportedly occurred on Thursday last around 21:20h when the Constable, Carloid Austin, 33, along with his wife and 10-year-old daughter, was at home.
Reports indicate that the SWAT Unit with about 15 officers, all armed with weapons and shields, entered the man’s premises and pointed guns at him as Austin opened his door to make enquiries.
However, one rank allegedly used his gun and dealt the Constable blows to his head and subsequently threw him to the ground and continued to beat him.
At this time, other ranks started to ransack the cop’s home, even inspecting the ceiling. Austin’s wife revealed that following this action from the lawmen, she began to enquire what was happening, but was horrified when she was told by one of the ranks, “We come to kill!”
Constable Austin was later blindfolded with his shirt, handcuffed, dragged to a vehicle and taken to a location known as Milly’s Hideout, where he was further beaten, this time with a plastic bag tied over his head.
Following the beating, the rank escorted the man to the Mackenzie Police Station where the handcuffs were removed and he was instructed to find his way home.
However, the Constable refused as he was barefooted and had no money, so he was subsequently taken a short distance from his home.
On Friday last, the family visited the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) where they lodged a formal complaint as to what transpired.
When contacted, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum confirmed that he was aware of the operation, but was unaware of what took place. He also stated that the Constable was aware of the Standing Operating Procedures and should know what action needed to be taken.
Constable Austin, who has been a lawman for over 10 years, is stationed in the construction unit of the Police Force at Eve Leary.

…7 charged, 3 jailed on escaping charges

…tell court they escaped from pasture not prison

Some three days after escaping from the Lusignan Prison, murder accused Kendall Skeete was nabbed in Wismar, Linden, on Wednesday morning, nowbringing the total of recaptured escapees to eight.

Skeete was found at an abandoned house in Wisroc Housing Scheme, Wismar, at approximately 11:15h on Wednesday.

According to Divisional Commander Fazil Karimbaksh, the Police Anti-Crime Squad, acting on confirmed information from its intelligence network, responded and was able to apprehend the fugitive without any use of force.

A cordon and search was also conducted on the building where the murderaccused was discovered alone. Skeete, who was in prison for the murder of a Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara man back in 2008, has since been transferred back to Georgetown.

Skeete, who hails from Wismar, is believed to have been trying to make his way into the interior.

Commander Karimbaksh noted that Skeete cooperated fully with the Police and confirmed that he indeed escaped from the Lusignan facility.

The 25-year-old murder accused was among 13 inmates, who fled through a hole under the fence at the walled pasture at Lusignan Prison between Sunday night and Monday morning. While there are three layers of security at the penitentiary, the men were able to escape during the downpour in the wee hours of Sunday.

It was reported that the men escaped from the fenced-in swampy pasture of theLusignan Prison by digging a hole under the perimeter fence. The hole was about five feet in length and another five feet in depth.

The first layer of security, Guyana Times understands, is the actual prison security, then there are the Police ranks who are overlooking the criminals and on the exterior, there are members of the Guyana Defence Force.

The Guyana Prison Service has come in for harsh criticisms after it was revealed that on the exterior of the prison, there was thick vegetation, which the escapees used to their advantage.

However, the freedom of most of this group of escapees was short-lived as seven of them were recaptured during the course of Monday by ranks of the Joint Services.

They have since been charged and appeared at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, facing charges of escaping from lawful custody.

During the arraignment, three of the men pleaded guilty and were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment. They are: 22-year-old Jamal Forde, Jamal Joseph and 19-year-old Winston Long. The presiding Magistrate, Peter Hugh told the men that because they did not waste the court’s time, their sentence was set at the minimum end of the scale and not the three years’ maximum.

Meanwhile, the four other escapees: Teshawn McKenzie, Royan Jones, Jason Howard, and Odel Roberts, pleaded not guilty and they were remanded until their case is called again in August at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court.

The men told the court that they escaped from a pasture and not a prison, arguing that the only reason they did so was because of the conditions they were forced to stay in.

Efforts continue to recapture the remaining five fugitives on the run. Additionally, the Joint Services are also on the hunt for the four inmates who initially escaped from lawful custody on July 9 after staging an attack on correctional officers at the Camp Street Prison and setting the penitentiary alight.

In total, the nine escapees are: Clive Forde, Shawn Harris, Kerry Cromwell, Pascal Smith, Paul Goriah, Mark Royden Durant, Uree Varswyck, Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander, and Cobena Stephens

Vandalised cables

In light of repeated wilful damage to its fibre-optic cable network, GTT has disclosed that the company would be offering $1 million for information that would lead to the incarceration of the vandals.

This was disclosed by GTT Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justin Nedd at a press conference at the Public Telecommunications Ministry on Wednesday.

“We hope that with the reward; we get more people coming out to say what they

saw that will lead to the conviction of criminal elements and the reward is $1 million,” Nedd stated.

The CEO believes that rogue elements are continually sabotaging the company’s fibre-optic network and noted there were four such instances of sabotage recorded over the last 10 days. The affected communities included Mahdia, Linden, Mabaruma, Bartica, Kwakwani and Ituni where mobile, and Internet and landline telephone services to over 20,000 homes were disrupted.

Nedd explained that the damaged fibre-optic cables were like pieces of broken glass, which, according to him, have no value unlike copper wire, which is often vandalised. He stressed that the vandals “know what they are doing” and added that the damage to the cables was destroying the country’s communications infrastructure and Information Communications Technology (ICT) growth.

“What we have is damage to the nation’s infrastructure by criminal-minded organisations or individuals who don’t want to see our country progress. It is clear that we have enemies and having enemies means that we stand up for something. The recent spate of sabotage will only impair ICT growth and growth of Guyana,” the GTT CEO told the media briefing.

Under the nation’s laws, persons who destroy various categories of communications equipment are liable to a misdemeanour and can face up to two years in jail. Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes told the media gathering that Government intended to deal with the perpetrators, and noted that more CCTV cameras would be placed in key areas across the country to catch the culprits. She noted that tele-medicine, online-based school projects and the general ability of the public to access online services were all hindered.

“Anybody that is callous and uncaring to cut a cable that prevents people in the event of a personal emergency, who can’t even pick up the phone to make call; students that might be preparing now for mock exams – whatever the scenario is, it is totally unacceptable and we will deal with the perpetrators,” the Minister strongly expressed.

She reiterated that Government would go to the full extent of the law to ensure that the practice was stopped and she further appealed for fair competition in the sector.

“We will go the full extent of the law. If this happens to be some warped sense of competition, I want to say that in the spirit of fair competition and trade, all should be allowed to conduct legitimate and responsible business,” she noted

An active investigation into the destruction is ongoing, but the company maintained its silence on individuals or institutions it possibly suspects of the reported “sabotage”. The company explained that it has spent some $50 million over the last 12 months – money which it said could have gone to improve bandwidth services, but stressed that the damage would not slow its progress.

The hotline number to report vandalism is 0908