-passengers stuck in traffic robbed
Thousands of commuters were stranded last evening on the East Bank public road between Agricola and McDoom after residents burned tyres on the road and hurled missiles at Police in protest at what they said were insensitive remarks by a top government official, resulting in traffic being blocked for more than five hours
One police rank suffered burn injuries and multitudes of commuters were left traumatised and stranded during the standoff which also saw thieves robbing people mired in the traffic and triggered the cancellation of two Caribbean Airlines flights. (See other story on page 9.)
The events also saw a sharp exchange between the Office of the President and the Alliance For Change over who was to blame for the disturbances.
At press time this morning traffic was flowing along the East Bank but the police were keeping a close watch.
Earlier, thousands of commuters were stranded for the duration of the ordeal as the Police prevented persons from traversing the public road in front of the Brutus Street entrance to Agricola. Schoolchildren were left on their own as worried parents tried to get past the Police blockade to collect them. Minibuses were taking people to up to Houston and returning to the city, charging inflated fares for transporting people back to the market to catch speedboats to get across the Demerara River. It was reported that buses coming towards the city had to put off their passengers at Agricola.
Beginning at about 4 pm, traffic snarled for miles as the fires started to burn on the public road. Both the eastern and western carriageway had heaps burning as young men from Agricola tossed fuel and materials to cause the fires to escalate.
In addition to pieces of wood and debris burning on the road, one car was torched in the melee. Many of the residents participating in the protests were heard expressing anger about the remarks of Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon earlier in the day. (See page 2)
Last night, police said that “While police ranks were clearing the main roadway at Agricola, EBD, of debris and other obstacles thrown by protestors during this evening, persons continually threw ‘Thunder Flash’ and other squibs along with bricks and bottles at the ranks”.
“This resulted in Corporal Kwesi Lawrence of the Tactical Services Public Order Unit sustaining burns on the inside of both thighs and he was also hit to the left eye by one of the missiles being thrown,” the release said, adding that he was treated at a private hospital.
This newspaper heard reports of children being taken to hospital for treatment as a result of the tear smoke canisters which the Police apparently released to try to quell the disturbances.
Stabroek News witnessed young men hurling bottles and other missiles at the police officers. In addition to this, residents also lobbed missiles at passing police and Guyana Fire Service vehicles. Several police vehicles had their windscreens shattered by missiles.
As the police put out one burning heap, youths lit others and as a result the police called for the roads to be cleared. Police were telling people to go to their respective homes and to lock their doors and their gates. In addition to this, despite the pleadings of parents who needed to get their children from as near as the Success Elementary School at Eccles, the Police would not budge and persons had to go back the other way.
Stabroek News witnessed the plight of a little girl who became stranded as she was going home from school. She was crying because she couldn’t get home. She had to leave the bus in which she was travelling and was so traumatised that she was startled by the revving of a motorcycle and started crying.
The following was the experience of a commuter: “We were stuck in the traffic at Providence from 4:30 in the afternoon, but we eventually followed some vehicles that were taking another route. This short cut took us to the traffic light junction at Eccles. While at Eccles, we waited for 3 hours as vehicles forced their way through the traffic. Traffic was stalled from Agricola to Providence at the time. As persons waited, a group of boys with vests tied around their heads were moving through the crowd robbing persons. One of them, who was being chased by a man with a piece of wood, ran in the direction we were parked. I ran into the nearby gas station as I was scared for my life. What sounded like gunshots and tear gas were being fired by the police as the protestors continue to burn tyres and block the road.
As the police managed to clear the tyres and cars on the road, vehicles were allowed to pass on the western passage way only. This was done at various intervals because as police cleared the area the protesters continued to burn tyres and old cars halting the flow of traffic.”
After the traffic reopened at about 21:28 hours, ranks of the Guyana Police Force cordoned the entrance to Agricola and with armed shielded ranks standing guard and preventing persons from entering. Although the traffic was moving the Police were still regulating the flow of vehicles as embers still burned on the eastern carriageway.
Police in a statement said that about 16:00 hrs yesterday a large number of persons gathered on the roadway and threw tyres and other obstacles across both carriageways of the East Bank Demerara road at Agricola and set them on fire, causing traffic traversing the roadway to come to a standstill.
“Bricks, bottles and other articles were thrown at the police ranks who initially responded to the incident and other ranks were mobilized along with personnel from the Guyana Fire Service,” the statement said.
The release said that the “unruly” crowd, some of whom were armed with pieces of wood and cutlasses, blocked personnel of the Guyana Fire Service from getting to the location of the burning tyres and other materials “despite pleas from the Joint Services personnel.”
“The police continued to plead with the crowd and also employed the use of the water canon to disperse them, which was not sufficiently effective, and consequently resorted to the use of tear smoke,” said the release.
The controversial water cannon was leaking water visibly from the lower back portion of the undercarriage. Using the cannon the police were able to extinguish one of the fires burning on the road, although several remained.
It said that later, police ranks and Fire Service personnel managed to extinguish the burning tyres and other debris. Police confirmed that a motor vehicle was also set on fire during the protest.
The Timehri, Diamond, Grove, and all other parks, home to buses that traverse the West Bank, of Demerara were filled with hundreds of people who were uncertain how they would be getting home. Some individuals were seen making their way both up and down the East Bank of Demerara on foot, since the probability of them accessing transportation to get home was unlikely.
Various persons waiting at the bus parks told Stabroek News that they had already made plans to sleep at friends and family in Georgetown and on the East Coast. Others, who indicated they had no friends and family to stay at in these locations indicated that they planned to stay at hotels. Others were uncertain what their next step would be.
