Just what is going on?
Editorial
Stabroek News
December 15, 2002
Things seem to get weirder and weirder here in the Co-operative Republic. And the authorities have not been helpful in elucidating what is going on for us. We have had bandits on the rampage using high-calibre weaponry, whose provenance no one in the administration or the police, apparently, could (or would) tell us anything about. And as for what underpinned all the frightening events which had citizens terrorized, the powers-that-be lurched from one explanation to the next. First it was the main opposition, then it was drug wars, then it was deportees and then it was back to the opposition again.
That there was a political element in all of this, was clear from the appearance of an armed camp in Buxton and inflammatory handbills penned by political extremists - among other things - but it was only from October 28 onwards, that it began to dawn on the populace that Government explanations regarding the origins of the crime situation were inadequate and that perhaps, just perhaps, there was something else more fundamental underlying at least a good part of the violence.
For the month of November up until the Buxton-based gang - whose numbers appear to have increased, incidentally - made their murderous raid on Regent street, the besieged residents of the capital and lower East Coast had begun to view themselves as bystanders in a drama in which they had no part. It was true, that ordinary people could be caught in the crossfire of the private war that seemed to be underway, but even so, the situation was considerably less stressful than when they were the actual targets.
And even to the most uninformed eye, that private war had narcotics stamped all over it. It was prosecuted in the streets of Georgetown, and even in the heart of Buxton itself. One or two of those killed were foreign-based, or even foreign nationals, an indication that this was no low-level local skirmish, but a regular war between rival networks, possibly even with regional connections.
Exactly who the new gunmen were who had entered the arena, the Government was not even prepared to speculate on. “A phantom force,” was what Dr Roger Luncheon called them, although there was nothing particularly phantom about their activities. But as is his wont, he declined to be drawn on the subject any further. In addition, the public got no satisfaction to questions raised about whether there had been any level of official or unofficial police involvement with certain of the gunmen on the East Coast on the night of October 28. And as the inhabitants of this benighted land pondered on all the unanswered questions, yet another mystery surfaced.
This was the interception by the army of a vehicle with bullet-proof glass the week before last. It contained some sophisticated weaponry as well as a computer equipped with software which could tap into cellphone calls and pinpoint the location of the caller. We reported last week that on the computer too were said to be a list of names and cellular telephone numbers of wanted men and others. One of the three men allegedly in the pick-up detained by the army was, in fact, a policeman, in addition to which it has been reported that a GDF Major who is currently being questioned by the military, approached the ranks who had searched the vehicle with a view to securing the men’s release.
It might be observed in passing, that these revelations sent segments of the PNCR into full paranoid mode. Mr Robert Corbin at a press briefing on Thursday muttered darkly about a Government plot in relation to a hit list whose names included members of the PNC leadership, and warned of dire consequences if anything untoward should happen to a party member. Well, even if members of the governing party were of murderous inclination - which they are not - they are certainly not suicidal, and for that reason if for no other, would hardly be disposed to engaging in anything as apocalyptic as thinning out the ranks of the PNC hierarchy. In any case, there is no evidence at present that this is a ‘hit list’ per se, or alternatively, that all the names on the list are there for the same reason. Least of all could it be asserted that the existence of the names in and of itself constitutes evidence of a ‘government plot.’
Be that as it may, the only thing Mr Corbin’s excursion into the realms of fantasy has achieved, is to distract from the serious questions which first need to be asked in this case, before any firm conclusions can be arrived at. And the most important of these questions is why the three men involved, one of whom was a police officer - plus two others arrested subsequently - haven’t been charged yet. They are currently on bail, and in an affidavit in support of an application for a writ of habeas corpus, it was stated that the policeman among them was on special assignment.
Needless to report, the authorities have had no comment or explanation to make regarding this curious claim, and as for the delay in bringing charges, the lame excuse emanating from sources within the security forces is that statements by the soldiers who intercepted the pick-up were being “refined.” Being refined? Are they serious? Are we to infer from this that (among other things) the army and the police are not working in tandem?
And then there is the matter of the origin of the weapons. As ususal, the ever loquacious Dr Luncheon could provide no useful information on that subject to the reporters who attend his weekly sessions. And neither did he seem better briefed on the question of how the computer and its software landed up here in this corner of Planet Earth. And nor could he offer any help on the matter of the vehicle with its bullet-proof features, which was registered to a ghost company and should not be in the hands of private citizens.
Is it that Dr Luncheon hasn’t been told anything to tell us - which would be strange considering that he is Secretary to the Defence Board? Or is it that the Government itself doesn’t know anything about these critical matters? If so, are they really running the country? Or is it that they know something, but don’t want to tell us? And if that is the case, then why not? Is it any wonder that we’re all suspicious? Just what is going on?
