First it was the "Kick down the door bandits" and some personnel of the Guyana Police Force were used to form the Quick Reaction Group and they dealt decisively with the bandits. Guyanese then lived in peace with some respite, except when the One People, One Nation, One Destiny motto was thrown through the window and it was a racial war come election time.
Then on the 23rd February 2002, our peace and quiet was shattered when the "Mash 5" forcibly and effectively planned and departed the confines of our capital based penal system, leaving a hard working male Prison Warder dead and another, a female scarred for life, the country was outraged. Buxton was their headquarters, and destination.
The Guyanese populace lived in fear never knowing who was the next victim. Some innocent and not so innocent bodies of the wounded, scarred and the dead were daily strewn all over the electronic and print media. The country was in a state of siege.
Guyanese went home very early, watering holes were empty, and everything suffered. We all wanted relief! The Guyana Police Force morally and spiritually was depleted by the fatal departure of Superintendent, Leon Mark Fraser on the 2nd. April 2001. The Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force were ineffective due in part to compromised relations and human resources.
Then, citizens with the testicular fortitude and propensity to do the job stepped in and the criminals left the land of the living in deadly style and a regularity that was not frequent enough for the law-abiding population. These killers are now gone to the great beyond and Guyanese are breathing a little easier, we had a lot of Christmas and Old Year's Night parties. Persons came home to get the sorrel and black cake.
Then there was a falling out of sorts; persons started making allegations left right and center. The media took everything these incorrigible persons said as gospel truth and the media passed sentence on the Government. If I was the Government I would have sold my soul to the devil to get the job done and return some sense of normalcy. My view, even though I am not home now, is to hell with the detractors, I enjoyed Christmas and would like to experience Mash without the criminals.