More families are now seeking justice after losing memories of their loved ones due to the sand being moved from the burial ground in Murphy Dam, Rosignol, Berbice by a well-known contractor in the area.
The matter was reported to the Rosignol/Zeelust Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and an investigation was launched. Region Five Vice Chairman, Rion Peters, had stated that according to the NDC layout plan the area was officially identified as a communal burial ground. More persons are coming forward with claims that their family members’ tombs have been uprooted.
On October 15th, Juliet Dukhi, wrote a letter to Stabroek News expressing how distressed she was as she tried to grapple with the situation. She highlighted that one of the graves was the resting place of her mother and this event has left her drained emotionally and psychologically.
“Why did he continue to allow residents to continuously bury their loved ones there? Why didn’t he erect a notice that it’s private property? If he owns this land why is the Rosignol NDC selling the burial plots and not him? Why didn’t he inform the residents that he owns the land and it will be dug up and the sand removed/sold? These residents I refer to are from the catchment area of Cotton Tree Village on the northern end which includes the neighboring villages on both sides as well as those at the Southern end under Blairmont/Gelderland such as Plantain Walk and Shieldstown“, she stated in the letter.
Dukhi criticised the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana (CIOG) and the Guyana Islamic Trust (GIT) for not defending the community on this matter, since the burial ground desecrated was for persons of the Islamic faith.
“I would like you and the readers to please note that the burial site that was desecrated is of the Islamic faith, which brings me to the second reason I wrote this letter. Interestingly, ever since this story broke, the silence from the two main Islamic Organizations, namely, CIOG and GIT have been deafening! Neither of the two have come out and condemn this heinous and callous act, nor did they go on the ground to empathize with the families whose graves of their loved ones were desecrated and unaccounted for”, he said.
Stabroek News made contact with both of the organizations yesterday which stated that they were not aware of the act until the call was made to them by this newspaper.
In a video on Facebook, a family could be seen at the burial site condemning the acts as it mourned its loved one.
One woman stated that upon hearing the news, she sent someone to look for her mother’s grave only to hear it had been removed.
Another man could be seen in the video grieving the loss of his brother as his older brother spoke about the fact that his brother was only buried a month ago.
“We are poor people and punishing and we had people pool money to help us bury my brother now, we can’t even say we coming to visit our brother because he is gone”, he lamented.
