The PNCR says that “Operation Restore Order” has turned out to be an assault on the Buxton community and the party expressed its alarm over the consequences and implications of ongoing developments in the exercise.
The party also warned that the situation in Buxton could spiral out of control with dire consequences for the country as the PPP/C government was “provoking the people of Buxton beyond acceptable limits.”
The Joint Services operation which was launched in the aftermath of the January 26 Lusignan massacre was aimed at exposing criminals who the security forces said used the dense vegetation aback of Buxton and other East Coast villages to hide after committing acts of violence.
There was an offer of compensation to sugar cane and cash crop farmers who would be affected by the exercise.
However the PNCR in a statement yesterday declared that the operation is “characterized by destruction of crops, the prevention of farmers going to their farms, the harassment of young and old people, and the criminalizing of many young Afro-Guyanese.”
According to the PNCR, the farmers of Buxton are now faced with a situation where access to the lands which enabled them to maintain their livelihood to provide for their families, has been “willfully and arbitrarily denied them.”
The party said further that it was all the more disappointing to learn from various news reports that the farmers are not being offered adequate compensation for the destruction of their crops.
The PNCR declared that in its view the “wholesale harassment of the Buxton community” was the most disturbing feature of “Operation Restore Order”, adding that the government seemed “hell bent on provoking the people of Buxton beyond acceptable limits.”
The party said it is yet to determine with any certainty that the promised compensation to the farmers is a fact. The statement noted that PNCR Leader Robert Corbin had asked the Prime Minister at the last sitting of the National Assembly when the farmers would be consulted about the clearing exercise on their lands, which, he pointed out, was being done without their permission.
He also inquired when would the farmers be paid compensation for the loss of their crops and what would be the date, time and venue for the compensation to be paid after their crops on Brushe Dam were damaged by bulldozers operated by the security forces.
These questions, the statement said, were referred to the Minister of Agriculture without any positive responses.
Some farmers are to receive their cheques by tomorrow and up to Monday around 63 farmers had submitted claims.
Eight of them have had their claims verified and signed compensation contracts, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud told reporters following a visit on Tuesday to the compensation centre established by the Ministry and the Joint Services at the Friendship Methodist Church at Friendship, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
The ministry in a statement disclosed that an on-the-ground verification exercise was conducted on Sunday along Brushe Dam, which is the only area cleared so far, to determine the level of damage and legitimacy of the farmers’ claims. Of the 23 farmers who registered claims that they are cultivating along that dam, only eight participated in the verification, even though they were all notified via phone and through their representatives, the release said, stating too that the exercise was led by the Joint Services. “The on-site inspection revealed that no suckers (plantain and bananas) or major tree crops were destroyed”, the statement asserted adding that verification will include Joint Services photos and films as well as on-site inspection.
During Persaud’s brief visit to the centre, some residents upon learning that the minister was in the area, went to the church and aired their concerns about the level of compensation being offered for their crops.
He informed them that if they are not satisfied with the level of compensation being offered then they can appeal. “Those who are not satisfied with the outcome and verification process, they can appeal”, he stated noting that an appeal mechanism is being set up.
Harassment
Meanwhile, the PNCR stated that it had reports that a
61-year-old ex-police officer was arrested at her home, taken to the Vigilance Police Station and then to Eve Leary to be fingerprinted, photographed, and intimidated. The party said that this was done by “out-of-control policemen who seem to be receiving orders directly from the political directorate.”
The PNCR said further that it has “incontrovertible evidence” of two young people who were arrested in Buxton, taken to the Vigilance Police Station and subsequently to Eve Leary for questioning.
These young people were being questioned about the whereabouts of fugitive Rondell “Fineman” Rawlins, and when they denied any knowledge of him, they were threatened and harassed by their interrogators, the PNCR said.
What is alarming about the conduct of the PPP/C administration and the security forces, the PNCR noted, is that both of these young people were arrested and taken to police stations without their parents or guardians being present.
The party contended that in the final analysis, the PPP/C will stand condemned in the eyes of the people of this region and the rest of the world for “maliciously and unjustifiably treating these young people, as well as the older ones, like common criminals when there is no evidence of them having broken the law.”
Unfortunately, the statement observed, these are only three examples of the growing list of people who are routinely being rounded up, harassed and then detained by the security forces.
It contended too that an important element in any operation such as “Operation Restore Order” must be to win the hearts and minds of the residents of the community.
But both the PPP/C administration and the security forces, the party argued, are ignoring this basic requirement at their own peril.
“They have alienated the farmers and they have literally forced the young and old people of the community to regard both the government and the security forces, not as upholders of the law, but as authorities which are ready to trample on their rights for narrow partisan and discriminating political ends,” the PNCR declared.
In that light, the party said, the PPP/C and elements of the security forces are on dangerous ground.
The PNCR concluded that unless they reverse course, “the situation in Buxton could easily spiral out of control, with dire consequences for this nation, confronted as we all are by a rapidly deteriorating national security environment.”