Families hoping for the best
Two soldiers are still missing after two boats collided in the Cuyuni River on Monday evening and their deeply distressed relatives were hoping for the best yesterday.
Wesley Hopkinson, 28, and Colwin Harris went missing after the collision. Two other soldiers in the boat made it to safety. In recent times there have been stepped up army patrols in this part of western Guyana to deter incursions from Venezuela.
A senior army source told Stabroek News last evening that a Board of Inquiry has already launched an investigation into how the accident occurred and why the men were on the water. Nothing substantial has been garnered as yet; but the main focus is to locate the missing men.
“We can just hope and pray that he is alright,” a distressed Arlene Hopkinson, Corporal Hopkinson’s mother said yesterday.
Guyana Defence Force (GDF) welfare officers, since informing the relatives of Corporal Hopkinson and Private Harris about the incident close to the Venezuelan border, had not up to late yesterday afternoon informed relatives about the progress of their search.
When this newspaper visited the flooded Victoria, East Coast Demerara home of Hopkinson shortly after 4 pm yesterday relatives were trying their best to remain hopeful and control their emotions.
Savvie Hopkinson told Stabroek News that three GDF ranks visited their home on Tuesday afternoon with the news that her younger brother was missing.
However, she explained that they had already heard of the incident earlier that day from an anonymous caller.
The caller, according to Savvie, told them that Corporal Hopkinson had been involved in a mishap where two boats collided and that he was missing.
Since being informed of the incident, relatives said, the GDF up to yesterday afternoon had not contacted them with any other information as to the progress of their search or if they were even able to conduct a search in the present weather conditions.
Allan Hopkinson, the army corporal’s father who is a retired soldier, informed Stabroek News that he tried to call the GDF welfare department yesterday morning. However, he explained that he was connected to their switchboard but failed to reach the relevant department. “People who serve their country must be better treated and protected,” Savvie stated adding that, “All this waiting is creating great uncertainty and doubt in our minds as to what really took place.”
Even if the army had called just to inform them that they were still searching then the family would be in a better position, Savvie said.
The senior Hopkinson said the level of protection he felt as a serving member of the military fluctuated during the twenty-two years he spent in the army under three different administrations.
He, like the rest of his family, expressed hope that Corporal Hopkinson would return home soon. The corporal was last seen by his family during the first week of October and was expected home sometime during the first week in March.
Corporal Hopkinson’s reputed wife and two-year-old daughter Azaniah Hopkinson share the family’s anxiety. The wails of Private Harris’ younger sister could be heard several houses away when Stabroek News visited the 21-year-old man’s Lot 126 Friendship, Brushe Dam, East Coast Demerara home shortly before 6 pm yesterday.
Shaundell Headley, Harris’ mother, mirrored the Hopkinsons’ feelings. The woman said she was devastated when she was first informed about the incident which, GDF welfare officers told her occurred on Monday evening.
According to Headley, this was the first time during his three-year military career that Harris had to go away without being in contact with her. The last time she saw her son was three weeks ago, she said.
“As a mother my gut instinct is telling me that something happened to him,” Headley said stifling sobs. “I don’t care how we get him…as long as we see him.”
Headley further informed this newspaper that about 8 am yesterday she visited army HQ Camp Ayanganna but was unable to glean any more information regarding the matter. Like the Hopkinson family, the woman said, all she could do was hope and pray.
