(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – “The pirates can expect us to come after them; not to make jokes, but to do a serious job,” says lieutenant colonel Jerry Slijngard of the National Army (NL), adding that this is a clear warning that appropriate action will be taken against these criminals. “These men tie their victims’ hands before forcing them to jump overboard, and this means the victims have little or no chance of survival. This is sadistic and inhumane,” the army officer says.
Willem Mohammed, chairman of the Fishermen’s Collective Commewijne (VCC) is very angry that three robberies have taken place in less than one month’s time. “It’s difficult to find crews for the boats, as the men are afraid they will be killed.” Two attacks took place off Coronie’s coast early this month, but no fatalities were reported. Mohammed is also angry about another attack in September, when pirates forced the three crew members of a fishing boat to jump overboard off Saramacca’s coast. “Only one of them was saved, and the fate of the other two is still unknown. They’re all Guyanese and it seems nobody cares about them.”
Police spokesman John Jones says no information about the status of those victims is available, so it cannot be said with any certainty whether they have survived. “It involves Guyanese, so the possibility that they’ve found their way back to their homeland cannot be excluded,” Jones says. Slijngard calls the new approach to piracy “a more effective strategy,” refusing to divulge any further details. He confirms reports that pirates with amphibious boats attack in the evening and return to Guyana unnoticed at sunrise. “We are conducting regular patrols and go to the scenes of incidents. But we will be using another approach from now on.”
Both Slijngard and permanent secretary Gerrit Breinburg of the Agriculture (LVV) Ministry deny reports that funds are lacking to combat piracy. “We’ve already made money available from our budget, plus SRD 80 million has been allocated for establishing the coast guard by late this year,” Breinburg states.
