Christmas Eve fun for two senior officials attached to the Skeldon Sugar Moderniza-tion Project (SSMP) turned out to be a nightmare after they were beaten and robbed of a camera by armed bandits around 11 pm.
One of the officials, Tianyi Li, Chief Engineer of the main sugar plant supplier of the SSMP, had to be treated at the Skeldon Hospital. He was further treated by a Chinese doctor attached to the project at the “camp site.”
The bandits grabbed the camera from his colleague, Guoyong Sai, Senior Mechanical Engineer of China National Machinery Import & Export Corporation and dealt him severe blows to his face resulting in him bleeding heavily from his nose.
Stabroek News learnt that the officials left their compound at Number 79 Village to enjoy the “fanfare” and while returning around 11 pm the bandits pounced on them.
The matter was reported to the Springlands Police Station but no arrest has been made.
Another official who spoke to this newspaper, Jin Huibao said, “Though this attack did not result in severe physical injuries the psychological effects are obvious. Frankly speaking, we are living in constant fear in this country, as robbery and theft incidents have happened many times in the past.”
Further, Jin also, “Almost all the workers are looking forward to leaving Guyana, as they fear for their safety. And this kind of morale is not conducive to construction of the Skeldon Sugar Project.”
This is not the first time the Chinese officials were attacked.
They were constantly robbed on the site and the situation was only brought under control after they hired an armed security service.
Meanwhile this newspaper understands that ranks at the Springlands station have received reports about several other robberies that occurred on Christmas Eve night in that area. (Shabna Ullah)
