ROAR calls for travel advisory to Indians on Buxton-Friendship area
Stabroek News
December 23, 2002
The ROAR Guyana Movement is calling on the government to issue a travel advisory to Indian Guyanese citizens not to venture into the Buxton-Friendship area in view of what it terms the “demonstrated inability” of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force to guarantee the safety of those who enter the communities.
A release from the party quotes its leader, Ravi Dev, as saying that “while this may appear to be a drastic step, we have to confront the realities of Guyana.”
In Dev’s view, it appears that many of the bandits in Buxton want to celebrate a bright Christmas and they are going after their ususal prey. “We note the acts of intimidation against those Buxton citizens, such as Mrs (Edris) Chester who may want to speak out, so that even a moral force is not there to stop the criminals.”
The party is also calling on the Minister of Local Government Haripersaud Nokta “to expedite his declared intention to provide alternative facilities to those in Buxton that deliver government services and force Indian Guyanese to enter Buxton.”
“In the short term at least, strong walls may make better neighbours.
They will certainly make a safer neighbourhood,” Dev remarked.
The release stated too that incidents of petty theft, harassments and assaults against Indians venturing into the Buxton-Friendship area are legion, and most are not reported in the press.
According to the release, only last week the press reported that two robberies were committed in Buxton and the police had come under fire when they attempted to apprehend the perpetrators.
Further, it said, the press did not identify the victims but one of them called ROAR’s office and identified himself as an Indian Guyanese, who had been robbed after going to the Buxton Post Office.
ROAR expressed deep regret at the kidnapping of 19-year-old Heeraman Sahadeo, a carpenter who had gone into Buxton to collect his salary last Tuesday.
This kidnapping, the party added, is only the latest in a long line of depredations against Indians who venture into the Buxton-Friendship area and its environs.
Indian Heritage body urges citizens to refrain from going into Buxton
The Guyana Indian Heritage Association (GIHA) is urging citizens not to go into Buxton for any reason, in light of the kidnapping in the village of 19-year-old Heeraman Sahadeo last Tuesday.
A GIHA release noted that Sahadeo’s kidnapping is the most recent of a series of attacks, robberies, kidnappings and killings that have occurred in Buxton over the past months.
The Indian Heritage body said that since most of the victims of these incidents are Indian Guyanese, it is “particularly concerned about the safety of this community and urges everyone to desist from taking chances to go into Buxton to visit friends or transact any business.”
And GIHA is also calling on the government to act immediately to ensure that necessary services such as postal and other local business transactions can be conducted from neighbouring locations that are safe for all citizens.
The association said too that it had joined the rest of the country in praying for the safe return of Sahadeo to his family.
