– evidence incontrovertible, Rohee says
The fire which destroyed the Ministry of Health’s main building was well orchestrated by a ring of “intellectual authors, planners and actors”, all working within an established network, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said yesterday.
And the actors acted because they hate the government and wanted to create trouble in Georgetown, Com-missioner of Police Henry Greene added.
No names would be provided “at this time” Rohee said, declaring that persons “well-known in the society” are involved. The authors of the act, he said, have been established through an active police investigation.
“We had first the intellectual authors, the planners, the recruiters and those who carried out the act,” Rohee said adding that the police have stumbled upon persons who were promised money; persons who were sent to purchase bottles, channa and gasoline.
The revelations about a plot to level the ministry, which was channa bombed on July 17, came yesterday even as police charged two men with arson, and as two others who were in custody in connection with the blaze managed a clean getaway from the Providence Police Station lock-ups some time early yesterday morning.
The evidence that would be eventually made public is incontrovertible, Rohee said at a joint press conference he held yesterday with Police Commissioner Greene.
According to the minister, the police have unravelled a detailed plot that points to certain things including where a meeting took place, and also to when and where persons entered the ministry to do the damage.
“We can see clearly now,” he said and asserted that the arson attack at the ministry was done within a political context. His reference to “political context” was explained as being concluded based on the evidence police have unearthed during the investigations, which he said points to certain linkages that are emerging and some already established.
Rohee also sent a message to those who he called the “passive players” in the plot saying that the administration now has a fairly good grasp of their network whether it is formal or informal.
“We have indeed seen a clear pattern where statements have been made about people not liking the government, wanting to create diversions, wanting to burn cars and ending up burning down the Ministry of Health…. These statements were made. We have this evidence in writing,” the Police Commission-er told reporters.
Speaking after Rohee he pointed to the plot saying that indeed there were authors and actors, adding that promises were made to pay some persons while others actually received money for playing a role in the arson.
Police intelligence pointed to an attack which was carefully planned, organized and executed, Greene said. He disclosed that six persons were arrested in connection with the blaze, including the two who subsequently escaped.
Greene said a man was still in custody assisting with the fire investigations, but the police are still looking for two other “key players”. He disclosed that Heston Bostwick who was detained as part of the fire investigations was released yesterday.
“We know that some of these men went on bicycles; some went with vehicles and committed this atrocious act. Our investigation is ongoing [since] we feel we have a lot more to unearth based on statements that have been made in this matter as to who is supporting what took place at the ministry,” Greene stated.
Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who was asked to give the police a statement, had committed to giving the statement yesterday, according to Greene. He said that while the minister and his staff were the last persons to leave the building that did not necessarily trigger suspicion from the police. As for why the statement had not been taken before, he said that Ramsammy had been busy putting contingency plans in place for the ministry’s work to continue.
He said too that the police are still to question some persons at the ministry, and he emphasized that there are persons there “that we need to question based on some information that came in”.
Responding to a question about security breaches at the ministry on the night of the fire, the commissioner said the compound was breached and it “appears as if the guards were sleeping”.
Reasons
Greene said that persons who were questioned about the fire have provided three main reasons why they were part of the act: hatred for the government, wanting to create a diversion by burning cars and wanting to create trouble in the city. According to him, this has been concluded based on what has been discovered so far.
He said some persons were told that the plan was to burn cars, but they were later informed that they were going to attack the ministry.
He declined to comment on well-known personalities Archie Poole and Bostwick expect to say that the latter had been released. However, he said the police have not arrived at the point where there is evidence to say that either man had committed an offence.
US help
He said the US Southern Command which had offered to help in the fire investigation had met the acting Fire Chief and they had held extensive discussions. Greene said the fire scene has been “contaminated”, but that the police already have debris in their possession to conduct a forensic analysis.
Greene urged reporters to question the Fire Chief on the fire scene being disturbed, since, according to him, “he is the person to speak with”.
Troy Small
Greene would take no questions on Troy Small, who has alleged that he was severely beaten by a group including one uniformed Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officer, but he declared that all persons are suspects until “we have cleared this matter”.
He said the intelligence teams normally comprise persons in the force and the army. He pointed to the statement from Head of the Presidential Secretariat. Dr Roger Luncheon on the issue of Troy Small as the pronouncement that “I think we should live with. …You’re forcing me to comment after the HPS and I think HPS has pronounced on this matter and I don’t think I should venture into it. Let’s await the results of the investigations he has talked about.”
Speaking to the issue of torture, he said the courts are there to determine whether statements given to the police were voluntarily given or not.
Security
He said government ministries are being surveyed constantly and “some key installations” such as the Guyana Elections Commis-sion are being monitored closely. He said a joint services team which is operating in the city, is making regular checks at the buildings and holding roadblock searches. This, he said, has been ongoing since the fire.