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Fishermen express
piracy concerns Gobin_Ram
Coming
from areas as diverse as the Essequibo Islands, the West Coast Demerara, and
the East Coast Demerara, the men – accompanied by one female colleague –
highlighted a litany of woes they faced from piracy. One
representative told the minister that from the mouth of the Pomeroon River to
the north-western tip of Guyana – the area bordering Venezuela – there
were hardly any fishing boats in operation because of pirate attacks. The
men noted that the pirates would usually hide their small, swift boats on
uninhabited islands, attacking at dusk, or later, using the cover of darkness
to hide the robberies and to escape. They said identification was also
difficult since most pirates not only wore masks but were usually completely
covered, including wearing gloves. The
captain of a vessel hijacked last week, Mr. Hansram Dowlitram, said his boat
was attacked around 21:30h February 16. He
said the hijackers took him and his crew to an island he later discovered was
called Liberty Island, and left them there. After trekking for some time
through the night, they found a man who took them off the island to one of his
relatives for a meal and then on to Parika where they made a report. Owner
of the boat, Mr. Vidishnand Jewanand, told the Guyana Chronicle it was a major
loss for him. He
said criminal activity along the East Coast Demerara had forced him to close
the shop he had operated for years and to try his hand at the fishing
business. He said he had invested some $6 million in the venture and now had
nothing to show for it. The hijacking occurred on the boat’s second trip
out. Police
non-response was a major issue highlighted at yesterday’s meeting, with the
fishermen contending that police often responded to reports by saying there
were no patrol boats available to go after the pirates. Jewanand,
for example, said he was forced to pay for a boat to take a search expedition
out to look for his vessel. Another
issue raised was what the fishermen viewed as relative leniency in the
prosecution and sentencing of persons allegedly involved in piracy. They
stated that there were cases in which proof was given against certain
individuals and days after being arrested they would be free again. Responding
to the concerns raised, the minister said the government is looking at a
multi-sectoral approach to the issue of piracy, stating that he has had four
meetings so far with Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Clement Rohee. Persaud
added that he spoke with Rohee yesterday morning and encouraged the group to
meet the Home Affairs Minister later. Persaud
said the government’s current strategy on fighting piracy has several key
elements. The first was ensuring there was an efficient system in place for
the apprehension, prosecution and sentencing of those involved with piracy. “My
view is,” he stated, “that anyone who is charged or arrested for
hijacking, that should be a non-bailable offence. It is tantamount to
kidnapping and under our laws, now, kidnapping is a non-bailable offence.” The
second element is the formation of a Fisheries Advisory Committee (FAC), due
to be officially launched Friday. Persaud explained that on the FAC – whose
chairman, Mr. Andrew Bishop was in attendance at the meeting – there would
be representation from the Guyana Police Force, the Coast Guard and the
Attorney General’s Chambers among other entities. “The
third thing we have been looking at,” said Persaud, “is that I met with
Laparkan executives…In Berbice, Laparkan had stopped making engines
available in hire purchase arrangements because of the incidents of hijacking
and the losses they faced.” Persaud
stated that Laparkan had agreed to begin their hire purchase programme in the
area again, and the ministry was also in talks with insurance companies to
provide some sort of coverage for fishermen. The
fourth element of the strategy, he said, was to suggest viable alternatives to
some of the fishermen affected and who were no longer interested in the
industry. He said his ministry has been encouraging them in aquaculture as
opposed to fishing on the open seas and officials had been visiting Berbice
primarily with a view to supporting interested fishermen there. The
fifth element, he said, involved providing some form of assistance to
fishermen affected. “The
reality is that our budgetary resources do not allow us to offer cash.” He
said that in light of this, one of the approaches being taken by the ministry
was to see if an arrangement could be made via the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA)
to provide seized engines to fishermen who have been victims of piracy and are
unable to secure new equipment for their boats. The
minister said one initiative that has been taken in the Fisheries Department
is raising some $3M – from cutting corners in several areas – half of
which would be made available to fishermen’s co-op societies to purchase
supplies for the use of their membership. The other $1.5M is intended to be
used to either build a patrol boat for the Guyana Police Force, or to be
turned over to the Force for it to have the boat built. Persaud
recommended that members of fishermen’s co-ops form themselves into the
equivalent of community policing groups. He stated that, in terms of security,
collective action provided a greater chance of success than individual
measures. It would be easier, for example, for a co-op society with some
structured system of security training for its membership to be granted a
firearm licence or licences than it would individual fishermen. He
said it was also necessary for fishermen assist the relevant agencies in their
investigations into acts of piracy since there was a need for adequate
information, provided in a timely basis, to ensure a higher rate of successful
prosecutions against those accused of piracy. “We
have a serious problem at hand and we have to work together in terms of
dealing with it”, he said. Tuesday, February 28, 2006
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