-mother of missing boy
In the wake of a report from the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) about possible incriminating blue paint on a coastguard vessel suspected in a boat accident that claimed two lives, the mother of the missing third passenger says a major investigation is now warranted.
Salimoon Rahaman, the woman who lost her reputed husband in the river incident just off Hog Island and has been searching for her son ever since, is reiterating her call for the matter to be investigated properly.
“I think they should investigate the matter properly…we want to know where is Ricky and how his father died and the neighbour also”, she said yesterday. The August 11 boat accident in the Essequibo River left Jainarine Dinanauth and his neighbour, Henry Gibson, both 45, dead, and 10-year-old Ricky Jainarine, missing.
Relatives and others members of the public had alleged that coast guard ranks were involved in the incident, noting that the soldier’s boat had been dry-docked for three days afterwards. The army had strongly denied the claims.
However, a MARAD preliminary report into the boat mishap has confirmed that the army Coast Guard vessel had blue paint on its hull and has recommended a forensic analysis to determine its origin, a source close to the investigations told this newspaper on Saturday. The shattered boat also had green paint – the shade that is used on the coast guard boat.
Since the accident, relatives had reported seeing green paint on the blue and white boat which the trio was in at the time of the collision, suggesting that it might have collided with a Coast Guard vessel or another green boat. After the August 11 collision there was no sign of the other boat that was involved in the accident and no report that it had contacted the authorities.
Suspicions were rampant when days after the Hog Island incident three Coast Guard ranks were apprehended for allegedly robbing then murdering Dweive Kant Ramdass, a Bartica gold dealer.
Initially there was no indication that the police were investigating any possible connection between the two incidents. Later, in a statement, the force said it was pursuing “green boat” leads in the crash, which led to the arrest of a suspect from the West Demerara area, but he was subsequently released after habeas corpus proceedings were filed in the High Court. According to the police, the man was questioned and denied being involved in an accident, stating that the boat he had in his possession on the night in question did not belong to him and had been returned to Venezuela.
A police statement said the man, while in custody, also claimed that he did not possess a green boat, but reliable sources had informed the police that the boat the man was using on the day in question was indeed a green one.
On Saturday, a source told Stabroek News that acting head of MARAD, Stephen Thomas submitted the report which included an examination of both vessels. The source who explained that the report was a very preliminary one, also suggested that a lack of navigation equipment on Dinanauth’s boat, also contributed to the accident. MARAD’s complete findings would be submitted to the police to aid investigations.
Meanwhile, Rahaman continues to grieve and is adamant in her belief that the Coast Guard ranks were complicit in the incident. Yesterday, she reiterated that pressure must be brought to bear on the Coast Guard ranks currently in custody for them to say what they know. She also noted that when Dinanauth’s and Gibson’s bodies were discovered, her reputed husband’s pockets were empty. He always carried money, she said. “He never walk with he pocket empty”. At the time Dinanauth had just returned from the interior where he worked as a miner. “We didn’t find a dollar on he”, she recalled. However, his licensed firearm was recovered. The autopsy results had shown that both Dinanauth and Gibson had died of asphyxiation due to drowning but that there was also blunt trauma to the head, chest and stomach.
Rahaman said yesterday that the police have not informed her about the progress made in their investigations.