A group of aggrieved and visibly upset fishermen yesterday met with Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee over escalating piracy in the Corentyne River and complained that the police were not doing enough to address their woes.
The fishermen alleged that on many occasions when pirates hijack their boats and steal their fishing nets they are made to wait for hours before police take a statement from them, which is often prompted by them buying a box of food for the rank.
The fishermen who hail from various East Coast villages, but who all operate in the Corentyne River, said that it was the second time they were meeting Rohee, who had promised tighter security to them, but nothing has been done since.
Rohee promised the group again yesterday that he would raise the matter with the Commissioner of Police, while urging the fishermen to be vigilant and report all incidents of robbery to the police.
The meeting with the minister took place in the boardroom of the Home Affairs Ministry. A few members of the media were allowed to stay through the meeting, while the fishermen who were visibly upset engaged the minister in many heated arguments.
One fisherman, Richard Harold in his opening remarks to Rohee said that many of them are afraid to invest in the fishing industry as there was no guarantee of security.
Piracy pushing
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Harold said that several of his colleagues have virtually abandoned their vessels and are leaving the country because of the situation. “We cannot continue to operate under these conditions and if nothing is done we would all leave the country,” Harold declared.
At times Rohee had difficulty in controlling the agitated fishermen who in putting forward their case said that they were humble citizens who did not have a sound education. “We are not bright and intelligent…we don’t understand all these things about forming ourselves into organization, we come here for help and that’s what we want,” one fisherman said.
Another, picking up the argument said that forming an association at this time to represent their interest was a waste of time. “If the whole police force can’t do the work how an association would do it.”
Harold said that the fishing industry was pumping huge revenues into the government’s coffers, but this seems inadequate to get them to act on their behalf.
In highlighting some of their concerns, Harold said that whenever a suspect was caught the persons would go to court and get bail. As a result he called on the minister to propose stiffer laws to deal with pirates. At present pirates are usually charged with simple larceny, an offence which is bailable. The fishermen urged Rohee to change that to high seas piracy, which should be made non-bailable. Harold told the minister that many of the suspects when they are released on bail would return to sea to steal outboard engines and fishing nets. “The pirates are the same persons committing the crime over and over again and the police are not giving any assistance,” Harold said.
Among the nearly 20 fishermen who met with Rohee, several of them own two or more fishing boats and employ up to 30 persons. The fishermen dismissed allegations that some of their workers might be conspiring with the pirates, saying that they know their workers very well. “We know all who work with us and we trust them,” Leonard Jettoo, another fisherman said.
Rohee in addressing some of the complaints told the fishermen that he was advised by the police that the pirates are really ‘thief men’ who have taken their attacks to the seas because of the strong police presence on land. “These are not pirates, they are thief men who do that as a profession,” Rohee contended.
The fishermen reported that among them, a total of 14 outboard engines are missing. Out of a group of 25, three of them said they have matters in court, while the others said that the police have not pursued their cases and as such they themselves have become too frustrated to follow-up the matters.
The Home Affairs Minister promised the men to look into getting the police to be more proactive and to introduce stiffer penalties for the pirates. He asserted, however, that these measures might take some time before they come on stream and as such he asked the men to exercise patience. At this point Jettoo said that the pirates are more vicious during the holiday season and with the Mash and Easter celebrations nearing it would be best if government could move sooner rather than later to address their concerns. Jettoo noted that the sea bandits have become emboldened over the years and this is so because they are not being prosecuted in the courts. “These men used to wear masks first time when them coming to rob you now they ain’t wearing anything,” Jettoo said.
At this stage Rohee told the men that he could not deal with all of them at one time and as such he urged them to form an association and elect officers to represent their interest.
Jettoo in response said that they were willing to do this, but many of his colleagues are not educated. “If some of us see our names on a paper we wouldn’t even recognize it, if they see their names on a bread they would eat it off.”
Jettoo told the minister that the situation is so bad that at one time some of them had to get together and pay the pirates $800,000 to recover eight outboard engines. Jettoo said that they usually paid in excess of $700,000 for an outboard engine. At the end of the meeting, which lasted close to two hours, the men agreed to give Rohee some time to put his promises into action. They said they would form an association, but warned Rohee that their representatives would be aggressive.
Fishermen operating in the Corentyne zone have been at the mercy of sea pirates who stage almost daily attacks on them. Despite the presence of the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard as well as the police the atrocities have continued. Fishermen on numerous occasions have made complaints to this newspaper and had numerous audiences with past and present ministers of home affairs and agriculture.
