Police say rounds were discharged at Success, East Coast Demerara squatters who were suspected on Thursday of trying to rob Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) guards in an attack.
Police Commander of Region 4(C) Senior Superintendent Khali Pareshram yesterday told Stabroek News that following a report made concerning an attempt to rob the GuySuCo guards on Thursday, three squatters were helping with investigations. The suspects have since been released he said.
According to the police, the GuySuCo employees were robbed during a confrontation in a tent that was set up. It has been reported that they were ambushed and injured by the squatters who were armed with cutlasses. Pareshram also said that the police discharged rounds at the suspects.
However, when this newspaper visited the area, the squatters claimed that the police opened fire at them without warning. They also said that there was no criminal activity involved. Instead they said that the excavators being used to dig drainage for the water that is flooding the land, a GuySuCo operation, were breaking down their homes. A woman related that because the low budget tents used as homes were being broken down by the excavators, the squatters made attempts to block the excavators from moving further and that was then the police discharged rounds of pellets at them.
Flooded
On Thursday when this newspaper visited, many persons were leaving to get treatment for their injuries while others said that they were leaving for good. But during yesterday’s visit, many persons could still be seen occupying the land even though many homes were flooded and the water appeared to be still rising. The pump being used to flood the area through the dam was not in use but was being guarded by heavily armed police officers.
Commenting on the scene from the day before, the squatters referred to the behaviour of the police as “lawlessness.” A man whose home was flooded by the water said that he had to send his children away after the police opened fire. Another showed injuries on his right foot which he received from the pellets. While a man named Carl complained that his house was broken down by the excavator and accused GuySuCo of removing his household equipment after the house was devastated. He said that his house was not the only house broken down and showed this newspaper the empty plot of land where his home used to be. He said that the houses next to his were also demolished. The material from those houses were left on the plots but Carl’s was gone. He insists that he was not home when it happened which the reason why the material was removed.
The squatters were told to vacate the land but they remain because they say they have nowhere else to go and claim that they were promised that land would be allocated to them. However, this has not happened and due to the situation at Success one of the squatters yesterday said that he went to the “Dream Realised” Land Title Distribution Ceremony held by the Ministry of Housing and Water at the stadium yesterday. However, he said that attending the event was a “waste of time”. He revealed that if he had known it would be the same “run around business,” he never would have attended it. He like many others squatting in the area said that he applied for land before and is still waiting for assistance hence he will continue to occupy a spot in the squatting area.
