Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 15, 2013 News
By Leon Suseran
The pirates in custody in Suriname for last Tuesday’s daring daylight hijacking of four fishermen and their boat along the Corentyne River have been transferred to a special police unit in Paramaribo which deals with piracy crimes
This is according to Chairman of the Upper Corentyne, Number 66 Fisheries and Head of the Berbice Anti- Piracy Squad (BAPS), Pravinchandra Deodat.
He stated that the four men are expected to be charged soon in the Dutch speaking Republic.
“I was made to understand that they took them to a special [police] station that deals with piracy. They will be charged soon; they got to get charged because they confessed they robbed the people them.”
Deodat and three other members of BAPS had ventured out to the high seas on Tuesday afternoon after he claimed he made several appeals and calls to the local Coast Guard and police in Guyana, which were allegedly ignored.
The men were armed to deal with the pirates who had hijacked two fishing boats off the Eversham coast.
An exchange of gunfire ensued and Deodat and his team were able to gain control over the pirates, after which he summoned the Surinamese Coast Guard, which arrived and took the men into custody. The fishermen and hijackers as well as the boats are all still in Suriname.
Speaking with Kaieteur News on Sunday, Deodat related his disgust when in March his boat was hijacked.
He was in the USA at the time when he was notified about the incident. He stated that he had to leave the U.S immediately and come to Guyana. Imagine his frustration when local police at Springlands told him that the incident did not happen in Guyana’s waters. “And I knew who did it and I took them to the station, and next thing you know, the police loose the men and never notified me. There is a Piracy Act that if you commit any crime in any territorial waters, you treat it like if it happen in Guyana’s waters—Section 14—but some police even say they don’t even know about it.”
Deodat noted that Berbice has the most piracy attacks.
“Eighty per cent of piracy is happening in Berbice, because most of the fisher activity is in Berbice. The police make pirates getting more privilege to do things, and they encouraging pirates because a lot of them at Springlands Police Station are corrupt…when you go there, they take a lot of money from the pirates and loose them.”
He said that the local Coastguard need not be annoyed that Suriname is handling the matter. “Why should they be worried? …they must be happy and glad,” he said.
“Did they do anything or respond?” he questioned. “The phone continued to ring and nobody answered. The government is trying its best, but the people who have to execute the work—they are lapsing. Many times, they get their boats doing joyride in the Berbice River—from N/A to Rosignol. You don’t do patrol like that. This thing don’t work like you are modeling out there. I am recommending that the government put a marine base at Eversham…so you can get fast response.”
He stated that he risked his life on Tuesday.
“Who knows when the pirates done with these men, they might have killed them…they even threatened the men in the boats [to kill them].”
“I won’t tolerate this nonsense! Fishermen [are] supposed to go out there and make a decent living. And to the people in authority, they get paid for this work, they must do it! The police and Coastguard are wasting time. They need to get a boat here at Number 61 Village, so this nonsense they talking about border issue, it’s stupidness.”
He stated that while there is heavy traffic and other police presence on the roads to catch speeding drivers, police are also needed on the risky waters of the Corentyne River.
“A lot of activities are going on there—people working and we are feeding the nation with high quality nutrition and proteins and we contribute to the national economy in this country and we deserve a service!”
He switched from his attack on the police to the Coastguard.
“They only have a vehicle and driving speed on the road whole day—drawing taxpayer’s monies and they are not serving the people.”
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
Apr 20, 2024
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