Civil Society group Article 13 has condemned Tuesday’s eruption of violence on the East Coast of Demerara and says that the police should have been better prepared.
The group condemned the violence meted out to stallholders at the Mon Repos Market, East Coast Demerara and said that adding to the injuries and losses suffered by the victims is the sense that the looting and beating could and ought to have been avoided.
It noted that the cause of the protest which degenerated into violence was an easily verifiable report of a person in custody in connection with the death of a citizen and that the police should have dispelled that rumour from the moment it became public.
“Article 13 also believes that with its institutional memory of such protests, the police should have been better prepared to deal with and prevent the violence which followed. It is regrettable, that the police have so far failed to explain its delayed response.
“We are heartened by the prompt response of the government, political parties and civil society in the universal condemnation of the violence. Our country has suffered far too many of these isolated incidents which have served to divide our society and to retard the country’s progress”, the group stated.
It lauded the government’s engagement with communities but said that President Ali needs to listen and act on the voices of the unemployed and the dispossessed and to assure them in tangible ways that the opportunities of their oil wealth and their constitutional rights are respected.
