Interviews and photos by Shabna Ullah
This week on What the People Say, we asked members of the public to comment on the current crime situation and other issues affecting them. Here are their responses:
Winston Alphanso, vendor,
‘Right now the country running slow; we’re not making money as we should because we don’t get business as before. I don’t know if it’s because of the change of government. I think the crime rate has increased because every day when I watch the news I hear that somebody get robbed or murdered. Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan needs to send out more patrols to take the situation under control. The government also needs to provide more jobs. I also want to highlight an issue of a woman who goes around this area (Parika) asking for money to help needy children. But I learnt that she puts the money to her own use. She needs to be investigated so she doesn’t continue ‘robbing’ people.’
Safraz Ally, self-employed,
‘I find that the crime rate is still high. The country got hard; money is not circulating, there are hardly any jobs for the youths and many are idle. They lime at street corners and smoke weed. Then they beat and rob people to get money to smoke. What I observed since this new government took over is that racism is coming back to play. I said that because while I was walking around the market area in Georgetown one day I heard the people making racist comments openly. I was offended but did not anything. Another day I entered a Sophia bus and I heard similar comments. Other than that, it’s not a common thing to hear. There is no problem amongst the people of different ethnicity that I’m acquainted with though. I believe in living with love and unity with everyone. We shouldn’t look at the texture of the hair or the colour of the skin to be nice to someone.’
Everette Paton, businessman,
‘To me the crime situation has increased; there has been more stick ups and robberies lately. We go to Georgetown from Essequibo often to conduct business for many years and the other day we got robbed in East Georgetown. Our truck broke down and while fixing it two young men came up with guns and stick us up and robbed us. They took away cash, cell phones, our drivers’ licences and other documents. We reported the matter to the police but no one was arrested. Thankfully we don’t have any problems like that in Essequibo.’
Ameer Khan, horse-cart operator,
‘The crime situation, with all the robberies and murders, to me has gotten worse lately. I hope it doesn’t continue like this and that the government can do something to make people feel safer. In Tuschen where I live, it is not so bad; every three or four month we would have petty theft and like once or twice a year there may be a big criminal activity. The new scheme has more problems because people come from all over. I noticed that crime is mostly happening in Berbice and East Coast areas. The police need to take prompt actions to tackle the situation. Sometimes when you call the patrol the ranks don’t respond immediately; they would come over one hour later. I don’t think they really want to catch the thieves. They only come to investigate what was lost and search your house.’
Rose Alli, vendor,
‘I hardly get to follow the news because by the time I get home I’m so tired. Sometimes I would read the newspapers and I find that there has been no improvement in the crime situation. The government needs to take more steps to bring it under control. We have a police outpost in Tuschen and most times when you call the police take a long time to come. By the time they finally reach the scene everything finished.’
Tasleema Khan, vendor
‘So far where I live at Philadelphia, there’s no crime. The area is very peaceful and safe. The country always had crime but to me it has calmed down a bit. I hope that the government can work hard to keep crime under control. Everybody wants to feel safe in their homes and when they go out. As Guyanese we should also try to live in peace and unity.’
Bibi Zaiboon, housewife,
‘I think this Tuschen new scheme area needs some phone lines and street lights. It also needs a police outpost at the front because that is where the youths would ‘lime.’ At nights there would be strange people visiting the area. My daughter’s shop was broken into and everything was stolen. I also have an issue with people playing loud music from boom boxes at the head of the scheme. They would start from 5 or 6 pm and finish until 1 or 2 in the morning. I’m 62 and I’m not a very healthy person; I had a hit on my head and I need to do an MRI; noise would affect me. Two years ago I went to reach the commander and he put a stop to it but now it start again. The minibuses also play the music too loud and I would tell them to lower it. But one day the driver and conductor told me to get out of the bus. I had to wait a long time in the sun to get another one. The music in minibuses should stop immediately. I also witness these conductors interfering with the school girls when they travel. I had to scold them a few times because it is their duty to ensure that the girls feel safe and comfortable to travel with them.’
Krishna Gopaul, taxi driver,
‘I don’t know too much about the crime situation but I would like to talk about the condition of the road in the Tuschen new scheme. It is in a terrible state and it’s causing our vehicles to break up. Two morning from now we wouldn’t be able to access the scheme. There are already some roads which vehicles cannot enter. The government needs to come in and see what is going on.’
Wayne Nedd, taxi driver,
‘Like everything else, we recognize that the government is trying but at the end of the day we know that crime is everybody’s business. The government can only do so much; everybody has to play a part in addressing the situation. The major concern for me is the condition of the road in Tuschen scheme. When it gets extremely bad and starts to put more pressure on vehicles, drivers would be reluctant to work in there. That would affect the residents because there would be no transportation. Presently I have to spend a lot to fix my vehicle.’
Ryan Bissoon, taxi driver,
‘There is no crime where I live at Krishna Scheme, Greenwich Park but I have a major concern about the condition of the road. The potholes are very deep and the cars go down and come up all the time. The bottom of the cars damaging and plus we have to spend a lot of money for new parts. We need the government to take over this scheme because since Krishna died no development was done to it. Also since I bought the house and land I didn’t get title. We don’t get sufficient water either. In the nights it would barely run so we have to depend on rain water mainly. I don’t know if they turn off the valve or what.’
Gangaram Sewshankar, speedboat monitor,
‘For the past couple months I think the crime rate raise. The police needs to do more. The magistrates also need to give harsher penalties. For some major crimes they are sentencing offenders to do community services. Then the same offenders go and repeat the crimes. If they commit the crime they must serve the time. The police need to work closer with the Community Policing Groups (CPGs) to combat crime. In my area at Supenaam there are a lot of people who sell drugs and encourage the youngsters. Police should do more to eradicate the drugs dealers so the youngsters can be somebody for themselves. I think the government should form groups with the youths and have outreach programmes to educate them about crime and about their future. The police are working but they need to do more. Sometimes the police are not getting the support from the magistrates.’
Khemraj Naipaul, salesman,
‘I just had an unpleasant experience with the speedboat service at Supenaam. This is the first time something like this happened. It was raining heavily and while waiting on more passengers, the boat was leaking and we got wet. The operators would have allowed us to travel in it if another passenger had not threatened to report them to the maritime administration. There were foreigners on the boat, including the passenger who complained. There is not much crime in my area at Reliance (Essequibo). A lot of people coming out of school thinking they would get work but instead they end up smoking and drinking and get into trouble. People depend on rice farming but farmers are not getting paid.’
Nickolai Vandornburg, traveller,
‘I can’t say much about the crime situation here because they have their own policy and we have our own in Suriname. I’ve been visiting from Suriname a few times now and I’m a regular traveller to Essequibo, Bartica and Berbice. I travelled from Supenaam to Parika and I was surprised when I started getting wet in the speedboat as it was waiting on other passengers. The maintenance was bad and the hospitality was bad. Then when we already got wet, the operators said we have to transfer to another boat. The situation was awful.’
