Over the weekend, robbers ripped open the flooring of the Mahaica Post Office, torched the safe and carted off over half a million dollars in cash.
‘C’ Division Commander Assistant Commissioner Gavin Primo told this newspaper that the discovery was made yesterday morning when employees turned up for work. All operations at the Post Office were subsequently put on hold. The perpetrators, Primo said, ripped the flooring and were able to gain entry into the building. The safe was then torched and approximately $500,000 was taken. He said that the building had no proper security system.
The Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC), in a release, said that it was unable to make pension payments as well as conduct normal operations at the post office owing to the break and enter. According to the GPOC, while no transactions involving the public were facilitated at the location yesterday, normal operations will resume today from 8 am. “The corporation expresses regret for any inconvenience caused and wishes to further assure the public that it remains committed to providing its usual services in an environment that is comfortable to both the public and its staff,” the release added.
When Stabroek News visited the post office yesterday afternoon, an official there initially claimed ignorance of the robbery but retracted the statement when he was presented with the GPOC release. While refusing to divulge any details about the incident, the official said that the post office will resume operations today.
One resident told this newspaper that this was the second or third time within the last year that the post office had been broken into.
