Sher's Fashion lost an estimated $28M at the hands of looters during the Pitt street fire in New Amsterdam last Saturday week.
Sher's was one of two stores located at the end of the street which were looted by several bands of youths who capitalized on the disaster. They smashed the showcases with stones and carted off brand-name clothing, footwear and imitation jewellery worth millions.
The police have so far made no arrests and none of the articles has been recovered. However, this newspaper has been informed that some of the looted articles were being sold in the town.
According to eyewitnesses, the police failed to cordon off the two entrances to the street at the time of the blaze.
Owner of Shers Fashion, Latchman Ramotar, told Stabroek News that he sold only brand-name clothing, footwear and imitation jewellery.
After smashing the three show windows and two other showcases looters used a pick-axe to gain entry to the building, making off with almost all the stock in addition to a substantial amount of cash from the office.
The entire store was ransacked during a raid which lasted some 30 minutes. The looters also broke into the storeroom and selected the best brand-name sneakers.
An eyewitness said she saw several bands of youths armed with pick-axes, boulders and pieces of wood smashing the windows and showcases, and breaking the grille off the main entrance.
"They came in hundreds and took armfuls of clothing [and] footwear from the store, but I couldn't stop them... [although] I informed a few policemen who were at the scene to intervene. They told me that they have to get permission to ward off the looters. As a result they [the looters] helped themselves while the fire had only started a few minutes down the street," said an upset employee.
Ramotar told Stabroek News that he was in New York with his wife when he learned of the incident and flew in right away only to find his store vandalized and empty.
The man said that at this point he isn't sure what will be his next move because it seems they have no protection.
Ramotar explained that during President Bharrat Jagdeo's visit to New Am-sterdam this week they were told that they would be given duty-free concessions as a form of assistance to help them re-stock for business again.
The businessman said that at present he cannot determine what he will do regarding his business because only a few days prior to the fire they had stocked the store. And now that everything was gone, he was frustrated and angry.
"A day after the fire when we came to open the store we found one sneaker hanging by the door; we have about 20 one-side sets of sneakers, what can we do with them?" he asked