What was supposed to be a peaceful protest calling for justice for 23-year-old Quindon Bacchus turned chaotic and resulted in the looting, assault and the destruction of property of a number of vendors at the Mon Repos Market on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).
Bacchus, a father of one, was killed during an alleged shootout with the GPF on June 10 at the Haslington New Scheme, ECD. He was allegedly the subject of a police sting operation which went awry.
The protest started at Golden Grove and cascaded down the East Coast corridor, yesterday, where it became fiery and violent. The protestors blocked off the road in several villages and lit debris to prevent the movement of traffic.
Mon Repos was among the last villages on the East Coast corridor that the protesters entered in their quest to have their voices heard. Vendors at the Mon Repos market reported that they were not expecting a confrontation with the protestors so they took no precautionary measures as they heard of the procession making its way in their direction.
“Dem ketch we off guard because we didn’t expect this hay so. When them man come this side them immediately start running up on the stalls them and tek what them want. Them push and shove you out the way and even beat you up and then do what them want,” a vendor told Stabroek News.
According to information relayed to this newspaper, dozens of protestors descended on the Mon Repos market area and some of them began looting the stalls. They took vegetables, fruits, clothing, food, groceries and meat along with cash. They also assaulted a number of the vendors and set their stalls and vehicles alight.
The losses are estimated in the millions.
Vendor Tularam Ramkarran told Stabroek News that he has been vending in the market for a number of years now and this is the first time that he has experienced such an incident. The man said that after he observed what was going on, he began to pack up his minibus and was about to leave when he was attacked.
“Them man see me in the bus and then them come and lash up the bus and bruck up the windscreen and so. Them push in them hand and start punch up me and so and then them pull me out and tek what them want and when them done them bun up the bus,” the man said.
He added that he was relieved of the cash in his possession along with other valuables. The vendor is contemplating his next move now since that was his only source of income.
Another vendor, single mother Bibi Narifa Khan said that she had just returned to her staff after collecting a “box hand” and purchasing some plastic bags when she was attacked.
“Them man come here with the intention to rob we because I went and buy this plastic bag and collect me box hand. From the time I collect me box hand I put it in my pants and when I raise up two man deh up in front of me and started grabble up everything pon the stand. What them nah load up in bag, them shy pon the ground and go away. When I ask them what them doing one a dem man cuff me in me face and I fall to the ground and didn’t know anything else.
“I is a single mother and I have two children and this here is me life. This is what does mind me and me pickney them. I had about $300,000 in load and the $200,000 box hand and all them gone with. The money was to pay for me daughter school fee and now I don’t have any. If them been kill me now what would ah happen to me pickney,” the irate woman said.
…no police in sight
Collectively, the vendors there said that the Guyana Police Force had no intention of offering any assistance or bringing any calm to the situation. They reported that when the Police saw the protesters making their way to the market area, they retreated.
“Them had a couple of police standing here and when them see them man coming this side them just went away. Them nah do nothing fuh stop them people and them just leff we here fuh deal with it. We even call the station and them still didn’t come fuh do nothing, nothing at all them nah do,” Khan lamented.
She said that the Police showed up after the situation was quelled and then began assisting the vendors.
“Them come hay when them man done bruck up me and all them people stall here. Them bun up everything and then the police come here. What them come for, I can’t tell you because them definitely nah come fuh help we,” she added.
A construction worker, Feroze, who witnessed the entire ordeal from a three-storey building he was working on, told Stabroek News that he called for the Police and was told that they are on the scene. He added that from what he saw, there were no Police Officers in sight as the vendors were being robbed and assaulted.
“Brother, let me tell you something, them Police was more frighten than anything else. Them does only know when fuh bad up. Me call BV station and report them and them tell me that how them done send Officers to the market and don’t have anymore to send here. I tell them that none police went here and them just hang up on me,” he reported.
The Guyana Police Force has been mostly silent on the handling of the protest along with its escalation. Efforts to contact Region Four ‘C’ division Commander Khali Pareshram were unsuccessful.
When Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn visited Mon Repos he was informed of the Police’s failure to render assistance but even he could not adequately address the matter. He was accompanied by senior ranks of the police force who remained silent.
However, he did acknowledge that there was a “delay” in the police’s response.
…retaliatory protest, full compensation
After they were beaten, robbed and had their livelihoods destroyed, the vendors along with other residents of Mon Repos began their own protest. They, too, blocked the roadways and began burning debris in retaliation for the police not assisting them.
When Stabroek News returned to the area in the mid-afternoon, the Police had managed to clear the road to facilitate a visit by President Irfaan Ali.
When the President arrived in the community he was swarmed by the vendors and others protesting and they demanded answers from him. They also reported their experience.
“How will we stop a reoccurrence Mr President,” one of the vendors asked as Ali was addressing them through a loudhailer attached to a Police vehicle.
He responded “Okay, when we are finished with this event I am going to come to the community for a meeting with everyone and from that meeting we are going to work together to strengthen community policing and to strengthen intelligence gathering. So that we can prevent these things from happening in the future.”
That was not favourably received by the gathering that became increasingly rowdy. The President could not have answered the questions as to the absence and non-action of the Guyana Police Force at Mon Repos. He was accompanied by acting Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken who lacked a defence for the conduct of his ranks.
During his brief address to the irate gathering, Ali said that those that perpetrated acts of criminality would be brought to justice. He added that while everyone is guaranteed the right to protest, the constitution does not vest them the power to loot and injure.
“All those who are responsible for doing it must be brought to justice. They must face the full consequence of the law and not only those who did but those who instigated it because when you plan a protest, it is your responsibility to keep that protest within the limits of the law. I have made it very clear that this nonsense has to stop and I have made it clear that all those who participated in the lawlessness, there are images, there are photographs, there are videos, they must be brought to justice… That is totally illegal, it is against the law and they must face the consequences of the law,” Ali said.
He added that they have already begun assessing the situation and will be fully compensating the vendors that were affected.
“…all those who lost belongings, all those who things were stolen from…I want to assure you that you will be fully compensated,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Mon Repos – La Reconnaissance Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Ayube Mohamed condemned the attack on the vendors and called for justice. He said that they received reports of several vendors being attacked and robbed but could not give a number.
“We have a lot of reports but tomorrow [Wednesday] I will be meeting with the vendors there to see what happened and how we can move forward,” Mohamed said.
