As relatives, friends and residents of Bartica today remember the 12 men who were viciously slain in a massacre that sent shockwaves through the nation five years ago with a memorial service at the Monument of Hope, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud has revealed that the investigation remains open as the hunt continues for a sixth suspect.
Mark Royden Williams called ‘Durant Williams’, Dennis Williams called ‘Anaconda’, Clebert Reece called ‘Chi-chi’, Michael Caesar and Roger Simon were charged and later committed to stand trial for the brutal murders of nine civilians and three policemen on February 17, 2008. They are currently on remand in the Camp Street prison, awaiting the commencement of their trial.
Those who lost their lives were Bartica residents Edwin Gilkes, Dexter Adrian and Irving Ferreira; policemen stationed at the Bartica Police Station, Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakir, Constables Shane Fredericks and Ron Osborne;
Deonarine Singh of Wakenaam; Ronald Gomes of Kuru Kururu; Ashraf Khan of Middlesex, Essequibo; Abdool Yasseen; Errol Thomas of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo and Baldeo Singh of Montrose, East Coast Demerara.
Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, according to the police, led the gang on the rampage in Bartica as well as the one that converged on Lusignan on January 26. Rawlins was killed during a joint services operation on August 28. With his death and the arrest and prosecution of the five suspects, it appeared as though the police had closed their investigation.
However, when contacted recently, Persaud painted a different picture; one of a very active investigation. “Information tells us that there is one other person, he said, adding that a search is currently on for the person. He said that based on what they were told the person was present at the time of the shooting. He said the police know who they are looking for.
Persaud went on to say that late last year police received some information as to where the man was but by the time ranks swooped down on the location he could not be found. According to the Crime Chief, it is either he left before the police arrived or was never there. “We have evidence that suggests he was there… that he was part of it… that he was one of the perpetrators,” Persaud stressed.
In relation to the quintet charged with the crime, he said they are now in the hands of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Stabroek News was unable to ascertain when that matter is likely to be heard in the High Court.
The attack
At approximately 9.40 pm on February 17, 2008, it was reported, some 20 gunmen attacked the community slaughtering one dozen people in an hour-long rampage that still has many living in fear.
It was reported that the gunmen first attacked the police station, killing the three policemen and the freeing prisoners who were being detained there at the time. They then stole several guns, just over $65,000 and made off with the police’s Land Rover keys. They used the police vehicle which was assigned to that police station and went on a rampage, terrorising the community and murdering nine others.
According to reports, the gunmen arrived in the area by boat and departed in similar fashion taking with them the firearms they had grabbed from the police station and from a mining company.
The attack on the Bartica community came amidst supposedly heightened security across the country following the Lusignan massacre three weeks earlier.
Forever remembered
Debra Gilkes told Stabroek News how painfully difficult it can sometimes be to answer questions from an inquisitive eight-year-old.
After the police station, the gunmen moved to Bartica’s commercial centre on First Avenue and Gilkes’ husband Edwin Gilkes, a guard at the Banks DIH outlet, was the next to be shot dead. At the time, Melrose Allicock who resided in the Bartica Housing Scheme and a 15-year-old confectionary vendor Lisa Narine sustained gunshot wounds. Stabroek News was unable to make contact with either of them during a recent visit to the mining community.
A composed Debra said she thinks about the good times she spent with her husband while paying most of her attention to the upbringing of their daughter.
“I am trying. I will always remember him”, she said, her voice laced with sadness.
Following the death of her husband, Debra endured severe hardship as the bulk of her salary went towards a mortgage payment. Now she says life is a bit better and she is trying with the little more that she is earning when compared to four years ago.
She said caring for the child is hard because of her financial situation but relatives have been helpful. The only sore issue for her is the fact that her husband’s former employer has done very little for her and child. She said that following the death, she received her husband’s insurance money and would go to the outlet to collect a box of salted biscuits for the child every month.
The woman noted that her husband worked at the location for about seven years before he died and while she was not expecting the world from the employer, the least it could do was remember the child at Christmas time and the beginning of each school term.
She said that in spite of her difficulties she is doing the best she can with whatever she makes and whatever is given to her.
Debra also expressed the position that something should be done for all of the children who were left fatherless as a result of the shooting.
Her daughter, she said, is inquisitive but is aware of the circumstances surrounding her father’s death. She added that the fear of another attack is still with her and she often asks God for guidance and protection.
Asked if she feels that she will ever get justice, she replied, “If I can’t get it from man I know that I will get it from the Almighty.” She added that she had heard nothing further about the case from the police and has never gone to query.
Life has to go on
CBR Mining was the next target of the gang and its guard, Irving Ferreira was murdered. The men disabled a security camera and stole six shotguns, five pistols, a quantity of ammunition and two safes containing cash and gold. The items were the property of Chunilall Babulall. On July 13, 2009, Sheldon Gorrick was charged with receiving one of the guns stolen from Babulall’s mining establishment that night. It is unclear what the outcome of his case was.
For Norma Valentine who had shared a 41-year union with Ferreira, though she knows she can’t give up until she finds justice, life has to go on. “I am trying to cope…,” a shaken Valentine said while noting that she has heard nothing from the police.
She recalled that when the shooting happened she was in Georgetown and it was a daughter who told her that “there was confusion in Bartica”. She said that they later confirmed that Ferreira was among the dead.
“It was terrible. I was shaking because I just leave home and he use to call every minute” she said. Valentine said that she still thinks of him.
“We have to move on. It already happen,” she stressed.
Meanwhile Rookmini, the daughter of Baldeo Singh said she too still remembers her father and would shed tears occasionally. The woman, who said that they shared a close relationship, stated that she often reflects on the good memories of him. Her daughter, who was around four years old at the time of the shooting, would often ask for him.
This newspaper was told that Raymond White who was seriously wounded when the gunmen opened fire on the car he was in, fatally wounding Dexter Adrian, is still suffering from his injuries. Back in 2010, he had told this newspaper that because of financial difficulties he was unable to travel to Georgetown for his hospital appointments.
Because of his injuries he was unable to work.
Memorial service
Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford indicated to this newspaper that there will be a service at the monument site located on First Avenue commencing at 10 am and lasting for about an hour. Candles will be lit in memory of the persons who died.
Organisers said they were unable to make contact with the relatives of those who resided outside Bartica but in the case of the police, there would be an official at the site to light candles in their honour.
Bradford told this newspaper that the organisers have also asked for a one minute of silence to be observed at anytime during the course of the day.
A Bartician by birth he said that in the moments after the shooting he was traumatised. What made it worse, he said, was to see the pile of dead bodies and the damage that the gunmen left behind.
He said some of those slain and injured were very close to him, particularly Constable Austin who he had advised to join the Guyana Police Force.
“It [the incident] has strengthened us… We could never get closure because we don’t know who did it and why,” Bradford said adding that from all indications, the gunmen did not go to the community to commit a robbery; the sole intention was to kill.
“We can’t even say that the persons before the court are [the gunmen],” he said noting that residents will always have that feeling that something will happen. In that regard he said, he constantly asks resident to be on alert for strangers or any suspicious activity.
He said that although so much time has passed people still reflect on the incident and residents visit the community park where the monument is located.
