– wounded victim has bullet lodged in head
Gunmen launched a brazen attack on a mining dredge anchored in the Barama River last Saturday, leaving one man dead, another seriously wounded and four others, including a pregnant woman, thankful to be alive.
Regerton Simon, called ‘Baba,’ 39, of Lot P 73 Guyhoc Park, was killed on the spot while Malvin Edwards, 33, of East La Penitence, lay for hours on the dredge with at least three gunshot wounds until help arrived. Four Brazilian workers, including the pregnant woman, were not injured during the attack.
Edwards, who was shot in the head, chest and arm, is currently a patient in the High Dependency Unit of the Georgetown Hospital. He underwent a CT scan yesterday to determine the exact location of the bullet and to ascertain the extent of the damage. Up to press time, his relatives had not received any results.
Simon’s body was airlifted to the city yesterday and is currently at the Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem examination. Police went into the area on Sunday to conduct investigations and returned to the city yesterday. In a statement last evening, the force said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding the attack on the dredging operation, which is owned by Hopkinson Mining Enterprise, Bartica. According to police, the investigation so far has revealed that Simon was on the dredge with Edwards and the four Brazilian employees, when “three men drove up in a 15 Hp propelled boat and fired two shots at them.” The attack resulted in Simon being killed and Edwards being injured. Police also reported that investigators later visited the scene and found the production money and equipment intact.
Sources have told Stabroek News that nothing was stolen from the men and no demands were made by the attackers prior or during the incident. It is unclear if there was any security on the dredge at the time of the attack.
Men with rifles
Edwards’s mother Donna Hinds said her son told her in mime and writing that just over an hour before the shooting, two men with rifles passed the dredge in a boat. Hinds said the miners were suspicious of the men but carried on with their work nonetheless.
Edwards, a former Guyana Defence Force member, recounted to his mother that he heard gunshots later while he was in the sleeping quarters and while attempting to investigate he was shot and rendered unconscious.
According to Hinds, her son was unable to see the shooters but suspected that they were the same men with rifles who had earlier passed in the boat. The woman said Edwards was unable to speak properly because of the bullet lodged in his head.
The dredge has two flats; operations are conducted on the ground floor, while living quarters are housed above on the upper floor. From all reports, Simon and the Brazilians were on the ground floor while Edwards was upstairs.
Hinds also mentioned that the dredge had been moved from its original position after residents of a small village nearby complained about pollution. But she could not say how long ago that was. She last spoke with her son three days before the incident and all seemed well, she said.
Missing pieces
Meanwhile, Simon’s relatives said the reports of what transpired were not adding up. They also expressed concern about the police force’s sloth in getting information to them. At Simon’s home yesterday, friends and relatives gathered to console his wife and two teenage daughters. His wife, Jewel Simon, said that her husband, who hails from Bartica, was in the mining business since the age of 16. He had been in the Barama River area for about three months now. She said the owner of the dredge, Shawn Hopkinson, is her husband’s cousin and he had been working “on and off” with him for several years.
Jewel recalled that she was originally informed that bandits attacked and robbed those on the dredge and that everyone was shot. She never expected to hear the news that her husband was dead. It was not until the following morning that she was informed that her husband was found face down in a pool of blood.
Her major concern yesterday was the state of her husband’s body as the last word she had received was that the body was still on the dredge and that Hopkinson was among a group of persons travelling to the area to retrieve it.
Asked if her husband had ever expressed concern for his safety, Jewel said that following the robbery and murder of gold dealer Dweive Kant Ramdass he did say he was scared. She told him “to keep praying.” At no time, she added, did he ever complain about any problems with anyone in the area were the dredge was located.
Maxine Williams, a relative of Simon, was upset yesterday over the sketchy information the family has been receiving. According to her, the story being told does not sound right.
Williams said the family was in a “complete news blackout,” adding that family members were unaware that someone was in hospital and was able to recount the attack until they read it in the newspaper yesterday morning.
Williams was particularly concerned that the Brazilians managed to evade injury while the two Guyanese were the only ones who were shot. How those persons were able to get off the dredge and journey to a mining camp on land was another aspect of the incident that puzzled relatives. “I still want to know how it was that the Brazilians were able to get off of that dredge and make their way to another camp nearby,” Williams stated.
Visibly upset, she added that the police have not made any contact with the family. “We had no word. At least I am sure that E and F Division headquarters would have had some information from the police. But the police made no contact at all,” the distressed woman said.
Williams said that if it was robbery indeed, Simon would have given up everything he had without a fight, since he knew that he could have worked and gotten it back. She opined that it could be a case that he recognized the attacker and this led to his murder. “You does be very vigilant when you are on the water top. Them bushmen would tell you that as soon as you hear the engine of a boat coming, you peeping, you’re looking to see is who,” Williams stressed. She later added that Simon had been mining for years and she could not understand why or how he did not try to save himself, even if it meant diving overboard or taking some precautionary action if he had noticed suspicious movements earlier.
Meanwhile, Edward Shields, Executive Director of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association yesterday expressed concern about the attack. Asked about the reports that residents had asked that the dredge be removed, he said that this could not be done. He explained that every dredge has a licence to operate and it can be worked anywhere that has been designated for mining.
Shields stated that although the land is the village’s (titled land), the minerals belong to the state and as such if villagers themselves also want to mine they have to get permission from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). Further, miners will only be allowed to mine on titled lands, once they enter into contracts with the residents.
While pointing out that he has not heard of any issue between the residents and the dredge, Shields said the residents always have a problem with miners. He said too that action needs to be taken against illegal shops in certain locations, since they harbour criminals. He also urged all miners to report any conflict they might have with anyone to the police or/and the GGMC.