Three men armed with shotguns invaded AMCAR cabbage boat Lady Christine on Wednesday, robbing its crew of cash and rations in the latest of a series of attacks that may force the company to shut down its operations here.
A company official said yesterday that AMCAR (Amazon Caribbean) Guyana Limited may be forced to close because of the recent attacks on its boats and factories and the failure of police to do anything about the situation. This year, Lady Christine, which is used to transport Heart of Palm “cabbages” along the Berbice River, was attacked by the same group of gunmen three times. The attackers, the company official said, are terrorising boats on the river and threatening the lives of workers. Several efforts made to contact senior police officials for a comment were unsuccessful.
In the attack on Wednesday, the gunmen relieved the crew of $80,000 cash and $150,000 worth of rations. At the time of the attack, the official told Stabroek News, the men were masked. After the captain handed over the cash, the official said, the gunmen demanded more and started to beat him. The captain was gun butted to the ribcage and head. This occurred near Sand Hill on the Berbice River. The other two attacks were launched at Canje, Berbice.
In addition to this, AMCAR said in a press statement, its Rosignol packaging factory was broken into and a large sum of money stolen. It is the third time this particular factory has been looted. The first time, the official recalled, the robbers took money from a safe. After that attack, the company cemented the safe into the wall. During the second attack, the perpetrators ripped the safe from the wall and fetched the entire thing away. The company’s crew on the Canje River has also received “serious physical threats”, the statement also said.
All these matters have been reported to the New Amsterdam, Kwakwani and Blairmont police stations. Despite this police have made no “decent effort to launch a proper investigation into this issue and these bandits continue to terrorize people”, the official said. “I am a bit disturbed about the police,” the official said. “When we reported the boat attack they told us that they didn’t have boats and there was nothing they could do.”
After the attack on Wednesday, the official said, the crew was afraid to complete the journey on their own. Since police could do nothing, he contacted the Coast Guards and it was they who eventually sent a unit to escort Lady Christine. The official alleged that the attackers are men wanted by the police. “These men are hiding along the Berbice River and when they run low on rations they attack our boats and they come out when they need money,” the official stated.
If AMCAR closes, the official reasoned, they the people who live along the Berbice River will fall prey to these attackers.
AMCAR was founded in 1987 and exports Certified Organic Heart of Palm. It targets the European market and has factories in operation at Rosignol, Mainstay and Drum Hill on the Barima River.
Currently the Rosignol factory employs 64 and provides livelihood opportunities to some 125 families. It is also indirectly employs about 400 persons, the official noted. “I don’t want to send my workers out there to risk their lives and soon people will be unwilling to work. This can very well lead to major losses for the company and result in it closing,” the official said.