President Irfaan Ali yesterday assured the families of Isaiah and Joel Henry, the teenaged cousins who were murdered last weekend in West Coast Berbice (WCB), that “no stones will be left unturned” during the investigation of the crime.
Ali promised that those responsible for committing the heinous crimes will be brought to justice.
In a statement, the Office of the President said Ali made these pledges yesterday during a visit to WCB, where he also met with the family of Haresh Singh, who is suspected to have been killed on Wednesday in retaliation for the murders of the Henry cousins.
It was his first meeting with the families since the murders took place. The murders of the cousins triggered widespread protests.
During yesterday’s visit, the Office of the President noted that Ali also promised to work “tirelessly” to ensure that the investigation is given the “highest” priority and he assured the family that of the government’s support in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
“I will work day and night to get to the bottom of what happened to those teens,” he was quoted as saying
The relatives, according to the statement also expressed their hope that justice will be served “swiftly” and that all leads will be pursued.
During his visit to the region, Ali also met with the family of Prittipaul Hargobin, of Bath Settlement, who was also killed, to offer his support and condolences.
In an effort to restore peace and stability in the communities, Ali urged residents to work along with members of the Joint Services. “Safety and security in all of the communities remain a top priority. As you can see, there is more visibility on the ground, more resources on the ground,” Ali said.
The statement said that the President further encouraged members of the communities to “come together” and not allow themselves to be divided.
Ali also reiterated that no forms of criminality will be tolerated, the statement noted. “We cannot tolerate lawlessness and criminality. We have to fix what went wrong and move forward,” he said.
The police on Sunday said that the bodies of the cousins were found about 600 feet from each other in clumps of bushes near to a coconut farm.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secondary School, and Joel, 18, attached to the Blairmont Estate, went missing last Saturday after they left home to head to the backlands to pick coconuts.
After they did not return home, relatives lodged missing persons reports with the police and subsequently launched a search party. It was while searching that the bodies of the teens were discovered.
Autopsies performed on the bodies of the teenagers on Wednesday showed that they both died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple wounds.
As the police continue to investigate the murders, a number of persons remain in custody.
A total of seven persons were initially arrested for questioning. Four of them were subsequently released on station bail as police could no longer hold them without charge.
Apart from them, a number of additional arrests were also made.
‘Continuous dialogue’
Meanwhile, Ali also met with residents of Paradise/Belladrum, West Coast Berbice, following a meeting held with a community group on Thursday evening, when several issues affecting the community were raised.
The Office of the President said he thanked the residents for engaging his office and for their openness in sharing their concerns relating to their community.
“I am a President for all Guyana and I want to work with every community. I have asked the group to come together, representing the community, so that we can have continuous dialogue. This must not be a one-off dialogue. We have to see how we can work with the community to improve community life, community relations and to ensure that all our Guyanese brothers and sisters, everyone, has a better standard of living, a better way of living. I am here to support that. We want to build relationships and we want to build on programmes and policies that touch the lives of all Guyanese,” Ali was quoted as saying.
He pointed to the importance of continued dialogue to the success of any intervention within the community and encouraged those present to form working groups to ensure that more will be achieved in a structured manner. He also reminded of the measures provided in the government’s emergency budget.
According to the Office of the President, residents raised concerns about the support of agricultural activities, including rice cultivation and issues of youth and community development. It added that residents also raised concerns over the inciting comments on social media that foster division and which they view as “disgusting and distasteful,” and which only serve to create tension in the communities.
Ali reminded of his stance on this issue and pointed to his recent, public statement, condemning such acts. “I addressed racist statements on social media and I just came from other communities who have the same fear. If we all have the same fear then we should all work on the same solution. That is why I said in my statement that we will address very sternly, using all the laws, those who are using social media to spread hate, those who are using social media to spread racism and those who are using social media to divide us. That is why I also said, through the international Commission of Inquiry (COI), we have to examine all these statements. It does not help you, it does not help me, it does not help the community, it does not help the country. That is why I am out here today, to tell you that as president, I am leading a government that wants to work with everybody,” he was quoted as saying.
