In wake of the arrests of five suspected pirates on the Corentyne on Sunday, September 25, Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud is urging law enforcement official to be tougher in their actions against piracy.
Persaud made the comments even as he hailed the arrests of the suspects.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud
In a statement released on Monday, Persaud said the Agriculture Ministry’s Fisheries Department welcomes the apprehension of five suspected pirates and a vessel at Adventure, Corentyne, at around 06:00h on Sunday. Persaud said that according to Indar Rampersaud, Chairman of the Number 66 Village Fishermen’s Co-op Society, the co-op had full support from the Guyana Police Force at Springlands, but the Coast Guards were not supportive, since they had to get permission from their superiors to proceed with the arrest.
The minister disclosed that the matter has been raised with the Guyana Defence Force hierarchy.
Acting on intelligence gathered, the Berbice Anti-Piracy Committee apprehended five Guyanese men in a boat belonging to a member of the Rosignol Fishermen’s Co-op. A small fishing boat was used in the operation when news was received that the suspected boat was at Adventure, Corentyne.
It was reported that the vessel had a large quantity of fish, suspected to have been stolen, the Agriculture Ministry statement said.
The fish were sold to “a blue truck” which is unknown to any of the fishers along the Corentyne.
A radio bearing the name “King” was also found on the boat. That radio belongs to Roypen Mothian, known as “Triggy”, a member of the Upper Corentyne Fishermen’s Co-op, whose boat was hijacked on September 14, 2011.
The seized boat is currently moored at the co-op, while three of the men are being held at the Number 51 Village Police Station, and the other two are detained at the Springlands Police Station. The engine is lodged at the Springlands Police Station.
Persaud also reported that the Guyana Police Force is investigating reports that the five suspects had threatened the lives of members of the Berbice Anti-Piracy Committee who were on the operation that led to their capture.
A source had told this newspaper on Sunday that the boat the suspects were in fitted the description of the vessel that attacked fishers during the recent spate of robberies.
Fishers who were attacked had described their assailants’ vessel as having a red bottom, grey sides and black stripes, and carrying a name or a “wash board” [extension of the sides to store more seine].
Further, the police may have discovered a quantity of ganja in the vessel, which also had a quantity of seine, fish and glue.
The vessel was powered by a 48- horsepower Yamaha outboard engine.
One fisher who witnessed the police arresting the men stated that the men hurled threats at and vowed to kill those who called the police on them.
The police and members of the fisher community escorted the vessel to the No 66 Fishermen’s Co-op, where it was hauled onto dry dock and the items inside were taken into custody.
The men are being interrogated by detectives.
Meanwhile, up to press time police at Springlands were still holding the owner of the vessel in which a piece of seine used by the five missing fishermen was discovered.
The man had eluded police since the discovery of the seine was made last week. The 57-year-old member of the co-op claims that his crew, currently out at sea, found the seine in the water. However, Gajadhar Bisnauth, owner of the vessel “Reshma”, on which the missing men worked, claims that his crew never used that seine, and it had to be taken out of his boat. Bisnauth alleged that the seine was used as a weight to keep the Reshma’s engine’s “foot” in the water, while the other seine was used to catch fish.
