Corentyne fisher folks have welcomed the noticeable decline in pirate attacks but remain fearful that the joint services will be ill prepared to protect them in the event of any possible resurgence.
Presently, they say they have seen no signs of aerial or river patrols, while pointing out that this may be because of the strained relationship Guyana shares with Suriname over the use of the Corentyne River for fishing.
For this year and the latter part of last year, police have received no reports of attacks. However, some fisher folk said that this was expected as the catch “has been very low” for months now.
Police last month credited the decline in pirate attacks to the resuscitation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Piracy and the Inter-Agency Maritime Surveillance Programme. A release from the force had said that these have led to a number of