Stabroek News
May 10, 2001

There have been no new developments in the East Coast triple murders which occurred on Sunday last.

Two men and a ten-year-old boy were gunned down.

Those killed were Bemchand Barran, 41, of Lot 3 Enterprise Squatting Area and his ten-year-old son Mervyn, a pupil of the Enterprise Primary School and Dhanpaul Jagdeo, 25, of Lot 334 Non Pariel.

The bodies of the father and son were discovered in the Enterprise backdam where they normally fished, while Jagdeo's body was found a good distance way.

Barran was a father of eight with Mervyn being his fifth child and his youngest five years old.

Jagdeo is survived by his wife and a three-month-old baby.

It was reported that the three bore multiple gunshot wounds.

According to reports Barran was shot in his neck and head and Mervyn was shot in his temple. Jagdeo's body was still on his bicycle when he was found. The three are expected to be laid to rest today.

The police are continuing their investigations.





Kwayana, others on fast to end violence

Working People's Alliance (WPA) executive Eusi Kwayana has stated that the situation along the East Coast has worsened since a month ago and is calling for a stop to the violence.

Kwayana is currently in his sixth day of fasting against all forms of violence. He announced that his wife, Tchaiko, Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram, and others who wished to remain anonymous, had joined him in the fast.

"The fast is against all forms of violence and the many cases of violence against Indians along the East Coast public road, and the few reported cases of violence against Africans," Kwayana told a press conference yesterday at Rodney House.

Noting that there had been some condemnation, Kwayana declared that the WPA did not comprise people who "jump to accusation without enough evidence to convince us."

He pointed out that although he attended the tribute to the late Donna McKinnon, who was shot dead on Robb Street, he accused no one of her murder.

He noted that his party had previously issued a statement denouncing the attacks on persons passing through Buxton. The party had pointed out that it appeared that Indian women and children were targeted.

He recalled that the party also condemned a talk-show host who had reportedly invited Indian supporters of a particular party to seek protection at its offices.

Referring to the current climate, Kwayana stated: "Choices have consequences."

Kwayana recalled that WPA co-leader Dr Rupert Roopnaraine advised that a transitional national government be formed, instead of rushing into constitutional reform and general elections.

The WPA activist said problems could be solved through negotiations but the negotiations must not be done on the fringes. He noted that, in the Guyana context, when there was one party in power some people felt dissatisfied about the way the "goods" were shared out.

Any government that met this situation would eventually face a crisis, he said.

Kwayana said there was a lot of anger emanating from the people on the streets and the politicians should be sensitive to this. They must recognise that frustrations rose when there were no jobs available, education standards were lowered, and when some people found they could not be accommodated in certain places, he said.

The WPA activist said his party welcomed any kind of talks between President Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Leader Desmond Hoyte, given the present situation. He recalled that the WPA had written letters to both leaders requesting that a joint national consultation on the concerns of the country be convened. Other political parties and civil society were to have been included but the suggestion did not materialise.

Kwayana declared that his party had not seen evidence of considered issues of concern in the listing to be discussed between President Jagdeo and Hoyte, but described the talks as a positive move.



East Coast trio not killed in Friendship backdam
Kwayana slams Stabroek News headline

Working People's Alliance (WPA) executive Eusi Kwayana has criticised a Stabroek News headline in Monday's issue which stated 'Three shot dead in Friendship backdam'.

He said Stabroek News reported the incident as though the shooting had occurred in Friendship.

"...locating the shooting and the bodies at Friendship at once points a finger at a village where certain people have been committing other offences," Kwayana said yesterday. Kwayana said he spoke to several persons "on the ground" who told him that the bodies were not found at the Friendship backdam.

An upset Kwayana, who is a Buxtonian, said Stabroek News reported on the beatings and robberies at Buxton/Friendship but had expanded to linking the recent triple murders to the villages.

He noted that the Guyana Chronicle reported that the bodies were found further east of Buxton/Friendship.

He pointed out that the offenders could have been from anywhere on the coast.

It was the Stabroek News, which rightly criticised the talk-show hosts for the harm they were doing to the society that ended up doing the same thing, he stated. "This is the third day and there is no withdrawal of that headline," Kwayana said yesterday. "How is their incitement different from that of the much criticised talk-show hosts?"

The body of a father and son with gunshot wounds were found somewhere in the vicinity of Enterprise and a third body was found some distance away.

The Stabroek News story had said the bodies of the father and son were discovered in the Vigilance/Friendship backdam. Kwayana pointed out that there was no Vigilance/Friendship backdam, but a Buxton/Friendship backdam existed. Stabroek News regrets the error.



Back to the books: East Coast school attendance picks up

It was arithmetic, spelling and play as usual for students attending schools along the East Coast Demerara (ECD) yesterday following the disruption of classes on Monday.

Lessons came to an abrupt halt at the Enterprise Nursery and Primary and Lusignan Nursery and Primary schools when rumour of a burning school spread among parents in that area.

According to reports, enraged residents from the Enterprise and Bare Root communities engaged in verbal clashes when parents from the latter area attempted to withdraw their children from the Enterprise schools.

The Public Relations Unit of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) issued a press release on Tuesday stating "boys armed with cutlass stormed the Lusignan Primary threatening teachers and pupils alike..." However, teachers at the Lusignan institutions denied this statement. In fact, they said that with the exception of a few nervous parents, there was no violence and terror on their premises.

The educators denied seeing any knife-wielding troublemakers on that day or being threatened. They insisted that things were generally calm.

Coleen Germain, headteacher of Lusignan's nursery division said when she left her charges that morning at about 0900 hrs it was business as usual. However, upon her return from her supervisory duties at Plaisance Nursery, she met an empty school.

The teacher who acted in her absence, Chitreka Persaud, explained that at approximately 1030 hrs guardians turned up at the school to collect their children. She said teachers started panicking upon hearing "dey bunning Enterprise down," so she dismissed classes. Teachers who lived outside the community were allowed to return home.

That day, Germain said, attendance was "good", but on Tuesday out of the 283 students on the roll, only 45 turned up. Yesterday, that number improved by 91.

Six-year-old Jamal of Lusignan Primary said he had no idea why his peers were leaving class early on Monday. According to him, "Parents just came and collected their children." He, however, had to wait for his teacher to take him home. His Prep `A' classmate was not so brave. "I was afraid of police shooting... And my mother did not send me on Tuesday. Today, I feel better."

He said he formed those conclusions based on the reactions and behaviour of the persons around him. A teacher at the primary level commented "who would not have been afraid".

That school's attendance dropped drastically on Tuesday. Yesterday, 629 of the 1125 children on the register showed up.

No one seemed to know where the rumour started and the persons this newspaper spoke with said they only became aware of impending trouble when panic-stricken parents turned up at the schools in droves.

However, with the exception of one parent seeking a transfer, both heads reported that they had not been badgered with anxious calls from parents and that their pupils had settled in once again.

At Plaisance Nursery and Primary schools, the playfields were filled with children playing and purchasing items from their favourite "tuck shop". Stabroek News was unable to ascertain yesterday's school population at Enterprise Primary given the low turn out on Tuesday.