Residents of Port Kaituma are fuming after the MV Lady Northcote turned up in the area on Monday minus some of their goods and in one case rubbish was used to replace several cartons of ‘missing’ cigarettes.
Stabroek News was told yesterday that since the Transport and Habours Department (T&HD) vessel became operational sometime last year, residents have suffered millions of dollars in stolen goods. This situation, they say, is unfair, especially since at no time are they properly compensated for their losses.
Several efforts to contact Transport Minister Robeson Benn and officials of T&HD were futile. “This thing ain’t right at all man. When you take over somebody goods you are responsible until it is delivered,” a very upset resident said.
Port Kaituma is home to several businesses and is an entry point to many mining areas. Business persons, in particular, use the ferry to transport their goods since it is cheaper than by air. Residents said they believe that their goods are being stolen and not misplaced as officials have repeatedly told them in the past. They said that it could be that the items are stolen from the storage bond at Kingston, since it would be very difficult to do so from the vessel’s holding port.
One affected business woman, Sherry Adams, said that $11,350 in cosmetics and $50, 390 in clothing went missing. She explained that last Sunday she went to T&HD wharf in Kingston and paid to have three bags and seven boxes transported to Port Kaituma. The boat arrived at the Landing on Monday afternoon and was unloaded. Adams, who said she arrived before the ferry as she flew in, explained that two of her pieces were missing and when she inquired she was told that she had to make a claim. She said that she spoke with the man who is responsible for watching the goods but did not get any satisfactory responses. “They tellin’ you to send in a claim but they does got you pushin’ around, pushin’ around and then you don’t even get back all your money,” she added.
“Ah want this thing fuh stop cause people struggling to buy dem thing and then dem ain’t want to pay you back for them,” the woman said.
Another shop owner said that his bale of cigarettes, valued at $125, 251, is missing. Leno La Cruz said that his cigarettes could not be found. The man explained he has someone in Georgetown who would buy his goods and post them up on the ferry. Stabroek News confirmed with La Cruz’s associate that this was done. The associate said that he has lost millions of dollars in goods.
In one case, this newspaper was told, five cartons of cigarettes were removed from a bale and the space filled with rubbish. In another instances jars of peanut butter intended for a mining camp were removed from several cartons.
One resident said that this situation should be a cause of concerns, explaining that many goods have been damaged in the past and there has been no proper explanation for this. “This thing ain’t fair. This thing happening since last year. Things either getting damage or going missing,” the resident said.
He added that he just could not surmise how the items could have been stolen from the hatch (the holding area) which is locked and secured with iron bars. He said that it takes more than one person to open this area.
