Dear Editor,
It was most distressing reading the Wednesday Kaieteur News of September 24, which reported that my friend and colleague was attacked in Port Mourant whilst on her way home. She suffered from chops to her head and limbs which resulted in the loss of a thumb and she received fifty-two stitches overall.
Had she not escaped, not only could she have been another corpse but probably a victim as well of other inhumane treatment.
Like many of us here in Georgetown who work and study, we recognize the risks involved going home after late-night classes. It is regrettable that the once relatively safe Berbice County students now face the same dilemma as we in Georgetown and other places in Guyana.
For months now the crime rate in Berbice has been escalating; unemployment has increased to an extent where youths are forced to the streets in order to meet their many basic needs. Working conditions and the lack of respect for workers rights are appalling. The rights of human beings are neither valued nor assured, and the voices of many are muffled when they speak out against the denial of rights. The authorities have been suppressing some of these stories and not responding in a timely and adequate fashion to these situations that impact on the economic, social life and well-being of people in Berbice and in Guyana generally. Our leaders are failing us in the discharge of their mandate to protect us from the hands of criminals, and our future looks gloomy in Guyana; no wonder most Guyanese look forward to the day of leaving Guyana. Our young nurses in Linden, who spend most of their time administering treatment and preserving lives, now need treatment themselves after an inhumane and traumatizing attack.
It is with these thoughts that I publicly appeal to the relevant authorities and government officials to take drastic action now and not condemn us to becoming a mere statistic. Our people, especially the young people need your fullest protection more than ever.
Yours faithfully,
Tricia Teekah
University of Guyana Student
Assistant Rights and Equality
Officer (ag)
