-laments state of health centre
Toshao Timothy Lewis of Kurutuku in Region Seven yesterday recounted a tricky midnight mission on February 17th to transport six soldiers who had been wounded by Venezuelan sindicatos.
At the urgent request of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Lewis coordinated the rescue operation to assist the six wounded soldiers from the Makapa Army base on February 17th. The soldiers were ambushed around 3.45 pm on the Cuyuni River by sindicatos from Vene-zuela while transporting supplies, leaving six of them in need of immediate medical assistance.
At around 9:00 pm on February 17th, Lewis received an urgent call from Lieutenant Colonel Selwyn Austin at the Makapa base. He told Stabroek News that the lieutenant colonel informed him that an attack by sindicatos had taken place and six soldiers had been wounded. They needed assistance to evacuate the injured soldiers as soon as possible. According to Lewis, the lieutenant further explained that his son, a boat captain, was needed to transport the wounded from Makapa to Kurutuku.
Lewis recalled the events, saying, “I had already been contacted by someone earlier who told me about the incident. When the lieutenant called, he said, ‘I’m glad to understand that your son is a boat captain and they need him right now because they got some wounded soldiers and they need to take them out as early as possible.’”
After receiving the call, Lewis contacted his son, who was just 10 minutes away from his house in the mines. “I told him the lieutenant wanted to talk to him. He agreed right away, as this is his work—he drives the iron boat anytime, day or night,” said Lewis.
The boat left Kurutuku for Makapa just before midnight. Lewis was concerned about the dangers of the route through the Kanaima Waterfalls, especially a notorious spot known as the “devil hole” near Aurora Mines. “There’s a big hole called the ‘devil hole’ to Aurora Mines,” Lewis told Stabroek News. “It could have been tricky, but the water levels were low, so we hoped for the best.”
The boat arrived in Makapa around 1:00 am, where the soldiers were quickly loaded for transport. Lewis relayed to SN that one of the soldiers “Pouch” had to be carried, the other soldiers could have walked.
Kurutuku’s three health workers, who had already prepared for the injured soldiers’ arrival, began to treat them through the night. Due to the outpost not having any patient rooms, the soldiers received medical attention under the waiting area shed.
The Toshao also said to SN “I was asking for this for a very long time, the outpost needs upgrading, we don’t have any beds for patients, we don’t have rooms for patients, so it really needs upgrading and extend the building or something from a health post it should be converted to a hospital”.
Complicated
The operation to bring the soldiers to Georgetown was further complicated by weather conditions the next morning, February 18th.
“The rain started falling heavily, and visibility was poor,” said Lewis. By 7:00 am, the helicopter, which was supposed to evacuate the soldiers, had been unable to land due to the low visibility caused by rain. Lewis stayed in communication with the helicopter pilot, providing updates on the weather conditions.
“I kept praying that the weather would improve,” said Lewis. “By 8:00 am, the rain finally stopped, and visibility improved to about 50 percent. That’s when the helicopter was able to come in and evacuate the soldiers.”
After the helicopter’s successful landing, the soldiers were evacuated and flown to safety.
This marked the first time that soldiers had to come to Kurutuku for medical treatment, according to Lewis. “It’s the first time something like this has happened, with the soldiers needing to come to our village for health assistance,” he said.
The ambush took place while the soldiers were transporting food supplies to the Makapa base. Lewis suggested that the syndicatos may have been targeting the shipment. “They heard the soldiers were coming with supplies, and it seems they wanted to seize the shipment or ambush the soldiers,” he said.
The region has been experiencing ongoing tensions between sindicatos with groups often extorting and targeting those carrying goods or travelling through the area.
Lewis also used the occasion of speaking with SN to call for greater support for Kurutuku and other remote villages, highlighting the challenges they face in emergencies. “If it wasn’t for Kurutuku, these soldiers might have had a much more difficult time getting help,” he said. “I’ve raised this issue before at the National Toshaos Council meetings, but now it’s even more urgent. We need better resources to help in these situations, I’d like the Minister of Health to look into providing enough supplies and to turn this outpost into a hospital.”
The wounded soldiers have since been discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.
Residents in the border area where the ambush occurred have shared mixed reactions following the incident. Many have reported, to SN that the area has returned to a sense of peace, with no further incidents. The significant increase in GDF patrols in the area has been widely praised by locals, who expressed their gratitude for the added security measures.
One resident explained that they had seen the sindicatos demanding monetary and otherwise contributions by boats passing certain checkpoints on the river along the border. “Any boat passing through is expected to stop at the sindicatos port landings, where they either provide a monetary contribution or hand over goods like fuel or food. The GDF boat didn’t comply with this expectation, and I believe this is what led to the incident.”
