Several city streets were barricaded for over four hours by heavily armed police yesterday, preventing many persons from accessing their homes and offices.
The barriers were in place to facilitate the transfer of operations from several Republic Bank locations to the new office on Robb and Camp streets. Barricades were in place by 7.45 am and were not lifted until 12:30 pm.
The barriers were set up at the corners of Robb Street and Wellington Street, Charlotte and Camp streets, Alexander and Regent streets, Alexander and Robb streets, North Road and Camp Street and at Regent Street just past the Guyoil service station. There had been no notice in the press about yesterday’s closure of the area but Republic Bank in a notice in today’s Stabroek News says that given the inherent risks, the institution was “advised against alerting the surrounding community as this could have compromised the security arrangements”.
Dozens of persons were irate to discover that they could not go past the barriers and expressed frustration that they were not allowed to go about their business in the cordoned-off area. Some said that this showed the fragile sense of security in the country contending that vehicles escorted by security personnel could have done the same job without having to inconvenience anyone.
The Republic Bank notice said that it successfully concluded the transfer of its operations to the new location, which would be opening to the public on Monday. The notice said that the moving date was “carefully selected” to coincide with the national holiday in order to minimize disruption of neighbouring businesses and private entities. “Security was of critical importance to the transfer and there was close collaboration with the Guyana Police Force, who ensured that access to areas surrounding the new premises was restricted for a period. This was necessary to facilitate the safe transfer of all assets, including those belonging to the Bank’s valued customers”, the statement said. It thanked persons for their understanding and also apologized for the inconvenience.
It was observed that while a woman attempting to ride onto the restricted part of Robb Street almost came to blows with the police, Channel 6 owner CN Sharma was allowed to drive his vehicle through the “restricted” area.
One woman standing at the corner of Charlotte and Camp streets told this newspaper that she had been waiting there since 8:30 am. She stated that the Bank should have done the activity on Sunday instead of the holiday. The upset woman, a vendor on Regent Street declared “They throwing people out of business. It really throwing you out a lot. This thing real bad, nobody can’t do no kind of business…Sunday was the best day for this to do”, she insisted.
Another woman, an internet café supervisor, who was at the corner of Alexander and Robb streets said that she was waiting there since 10 am and would have to wait until the barriers were removed. “Had I known this would have happened I would never have come out at all”, she stated. She said that the internet café usually opens every day.
Another woman lamented that she had a booth at the Emancipation Festival at the National Park and could not get her craft items out of the mall. “We have no goods and time going”, the frustrated woman declared. Meanwhile, at the corner of Robb and Wellington streets, some persons waited to go to their homes on Robb Street. One woman said that she had left home when the barriers were already in place and upon returning was told that she could not go back in. “We can’t get access to our own home”, she said. The woman declared that the bank should have conducted the activity in the early morning hours.
An elderly woman declared that “they nah cater for old people” as she moved along Wellington Street trying to get to the Bourda Market. Upon being told that she would have to go through North Road, the elderly woman threatened to walk through the barriers.
Many persons waited at some of the barriers and expressed disgust with the situation.
Stabroek News Editor Anand Persaud said the newspaper welcomed the establishment of Republic Bank on Robb Street but he expressed dismay at the more than four-hour shutdown of the area caused by the changeover. He said the newspaper’s operation had been badly affected as vendors, couriers, drivers, reporters and senior staff were unable to get through the cordon for hours. Persaud said that neither the police nor Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited had evidently carefully thought out the ramifications of the operations. He said that there was no circumstance under which Republic Bank’s security considerations could override the legitimate rights of dozens of people within the defined blocks to go about their business. He contended that the police and the bank should have agreed on a protocol for determining who should be allowed ingress and egress.
The total shut down of the area, he added, was evidence of the unstable security situation in the city and the inability of the police to provide the required protection without causing undue dislocation.
