Ammo found at Bamboo Landing
By Kim Lucas
Stabroek News
October 24, 2002
Members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), responding to an allegation of theft at Bamboo Landing, Demerara River on Tuesday stumbled upon a large quantity of ammunition in a container.
The army, in a release yesterday, said the soldiers, based at Camp Seweyo on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, discovered 111 rounds of .38mm ammunition and six 12-gauge shotgun cartridges in a 20-foot container at a concession owned by Alim Hack at Bamboo Landing, Upper Demerara River.
At the time, the ranks were acting on a report by Hafroze Hussein, who works as a caretaker at the landing. Hussein said that he noticed an ex-employee of Hack removing items from the container.
When Stabroek News visited the landing yesterday, Hussein called `Panko', explained that he and the alleged thief were hired by Hack to look after the concession six months ago. Hack apparently left the country soon after.
"He [Hack] come and reach me and [the alleged thief] and tell we that he got a job for we up on the highway. So I tell he that I got me mistress and me children and [asked] if he got convenience for me to feel comfortable and free?...He bring we now and lef we."
Hussein said his employer told him to collect a $2,000 landing fee from every truck passing through the concession. That was his caretaker's fee. The other employee subsequently left.
Hussein said everything was going well until Tuesday, when the ex-employee returned.
"I watch and see [the ex-employee] coming with a next guy. When he come, I shake he hand...I say, `Man, I glad you come, because I left bored.' I got he like a brother," Hussein explained.
He said his wife cooked and they all ate. According to Hussein, the ex-employee said he had no money to return home, so he (Hussein) borrowed $500 from two other people who had visited him that day.
"De rain was drizzling...he [the ex-employee] and he friend walk through and gone in the trail. [But] de man go through a bush and deh in that bush hiding and me ain't know," Hussein said.
He said that shortly after the two men left, he and his family decided to go for a walk. But while on the trail, he realised that there were no footprints in the wet earth. He became suspicious that the men had not left, but were lurking around for an opportunity to break into Hack's container.
As a result, Hussein and his family doubled back.
"So me children run go in front the container and see [the ex-employee] inside with the next guy."
He said by that time, the two men had already broken into the container and had a number of items outside. Hussein said the thieves had also erected a tarpaulin to shelter from the rain.
Hussein said when he told the men to evacuate the container and leave Hack's things behind, the ex-employee whipped out a cutlass and ran after him, with the other thief in tow, brandishing a piece of wood.
"So I can't do nothing. I lef me children and I run through the bush. I tell them I coming back. But I gone to the soldiers. I run, one rate...rain falling." The trail from the landing to the military base is about six miles. Stabroek News took 15 minutes to drive out at about 30 KPH.
At Camp Seweyo, Hussein reported what had transpired. He said four soldiers accompanied him back to the landing, but by that time, the men had left. It was his wife who told him that the thieves packed a pump into a bucket and stuffed a number of other items above. The men also reportedly left with a number of packed bags.
At the time of this newspaper's visit yesterday, a party of police was at the landing still conducting investigations. According to Hussein, Hack is expected to return to Guyana by the end of October.
The ammunition was handed over to the police. Ammunition finds are of particular concern to the law enforcement arms in light of the heavy firepower used by bandits in attacks since a crime wave erupted earlier this year.