An Agricola resident is still waiting on promised compensation from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) six years after suffering accidental gunshot injuries
It has been six years since then Commissioner of Police, David Ramnarine, informed Agricola resident, Parmadai (only name), that the Force had been advised to compensate her after she was wounded during a shootout between lawmen and two bandits. However, Parmadai is yet to receive any of the promised compensation.
Parmadai spoke to Stabroek News on Wednesday and related that her interactions with the police and Ministry of Home Affairs began in 2019 when she visited the Office of the Police Commissioner. According to the woman, an officer acting on behalf of the commissioner, assured Parmadai that [he] will look into the matter. He further assured that her matter will be brought up for discussion at the next police meeting.
She next spoke to Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, in March, 2022. Then in September of the same year, a Woman-Detective Miller visited her Agricola residence and informed Parmadai that she was conducting an investigation into the matter. According to Parmadai, Detective Miller assured her that she will be called upon if she [Miller] needed anything. That was the last contact Parmadai has had with either the police or officialdom regarding her overdue compensation.
Stabroek News contacted Acting Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, in relation to Parmadai’s compensation. The Commissioner [Ag] responded that he needed to familiarise himself with her matter, and intended to acquire Parmadai’s record from the Headquarters and the Attorney General’s office, after which an accurate update will be provided. Hicken requested that this newspaper follow up with him on Monday [tomorrow].
Back in October, 2017, then Commissioner, David Ramnarine had responded via a letter to this newspaper, in response to a Stabroek News article, “Agricola woman still awaiting word on probe of police crossfire shooting.” In his letter, Ramnarine stated that the police investigation into the shooting was completed and legal advice obtained. “It was recommended that the incident which resulted in the gunshot injuries sustained by the victim was purely accidental in the circumstances, hence most unfortunate and that the victim should be compensated,” he said.
“The appropriate communication has been transmitted to the relevant authority for consideration to be given in order that the legal advice maybe effectuated. In the circumstances, the victim is respectfully advised to be patient, as the possibility of compensation remains active,” he added.
On July 11, Parmadai, of 124 Caesar Street, Agricola, was resting in her hammock at home when she was shot in the buttocks and left hand. She was rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, were she was treated before being transferred to a private hospital for medical attention. Elietha Heeralall, the daughter of the injured woman, had recently told Stabroek News that since the shooting, her mother, who is a seamstress, has not been able to do any work as she is unable to sit for too long. “Mommy used to be active, always up and about but since she got shot she hasn’t been herself. Anytime she moves about, the injuries begin to swell and she experiences pain… It is not easy to look at her.” She added that the family has spent more than half a million dollars on medical care, and that figure, according to Heeralall, does not factor in monies spent on over-the-counter drugs and transportation every time her mother has to go to the doctor for a check-up.
Following the shooting, the police had issued a statement which said that ranks went to Fourth Street, Agricola, where they were confronted by two armed men. According to the statement, one man had a sawn-off shotgun and the other, a handgun. As the ranks approached the individuals, they “opened fire on the lawmen who adopted tactical positions and returned fire [and] during the exchange, the suspect with the shotgun was injured.”
A probe by GPF Office of Professional Responsibility was launched after residents accused the police of firing the shots that hit the woman. Parmadai explained that she wants closure in the matter. She lamented that she has not been unable to resume her economic activities as a result of the wound she sustained to her buttocks. Although she receives a monthly pension every month, that has proven insufficient to aid with her medical needs and regular doctors’ checkups. She said that her family helps in any way they can but even with the most basic of chores the pain becomes severe along with swelling in the area of her buttocks.
