Following a robbery on one of its boats on Tuesday by men armed with guns, the management of Amazon Caribbean Guyana Ltd (AMCAR) says it is concerned about the growing insecurity in the interior.
“This incident has resulted not only in our staff being scared to return to the area to transact business but also the residents being terrified to go about their regular business. This can have serious economic implications as we are purchasing raw material for our processing unit in Rosignol, night and day. Manicole (cabbage) harvesting is a significant source of earning for more than 50 families on the Berbice River, providing steady income and low cost bartering system,” the company said in a statement.
In giving details about the Tuesday incident, the statement said that at about 2.30am at Kimbia, Berbice River, AMCAR’s Cabbage boat, the MV Lady Christine, was attacked and robbed by four gunmen. One shot was fired as the gunmen made good their escape with $125,000 leaving the crew members very traumatized, the statement said.
The company said that the matter was reported via telephone to the Blairmont Police Station at about 7am that morning. It said that on Thursday, the crew returned to shore and went to the Blairmont Police Station to make a report. “They were referred to the Kwakwani Police Station.
The head of the boat crew became very frustrated and contacted the CID office in Georgetown. He was then advised to go to the Blairmont Police Station where a report was finally taken at about 10 am,” the company said.
It added that a rank later inspected the boat and witnessed the bullet marks on the cabin and took statements from the other crew members and promised to launch further investigations.
The statement said that management is very disturbed about the incident and has contacted the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police and will air their concerns about the growing insecurity in the interior at a meeting with the authorities and members of the private sector planned for today.
The company recalled that its cabbage boat was attacked three years ago in Berbice. At that time, the Ministry of Home Affairs had acted promptly and the police had investigated, leading to the arrest of 3 individuals, the statement said.
The management of AMCAR said that it hopes that the same swift action could be repeated to secure the area.