” the Guyana Defence Force
| The army has expressed concern over reports alleging that inaction by the Coast Guard led to four persons held by some fishermen being handed over to Surinamese authorities. The four were reportedly nabbed after a botched hijacking and robberies at sea on Tuesday.“Consequent to a report by an official of the No 66 Fisheries Cooperative at around noon yesterday (Tuesday) about a robbery at sea, the Coast Guard deployed from New Amsterdam to respond to the report,” the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) said in a statement last evening.The army said that a subsequent call was received from a fisheries cooperative official around 15:00 hours Tuesday where he indicated they had located the vessel in the Eversham Village area and there was an exchange of gunfire.“He was advised that the Coast Guard had already deployed and was heading to the area. At around 15:45 hrs, a call was received from a Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries department official who requested the Coast Guard and Police presence at the No 66 Village Fisheries Cooperative location so that the arrested persons could be taken in to custody.”The army said that another Coast Guard team was deployed, this time to the No 66 Village Fisheries Cooperative location.“While at that location, the Commander was informed that the vessel and crew were already handed over to the Surinamese authorities. The GDF is concerned that alleged perpetrators of acts of piracy in Guyana’s waters were handed over to Surinamese authorities instead of Guyanese authorities for investigation and prosecution.”According to reports, members of the Berbice anti-piracy team captured four pirates, believed to be from Number 43 Village, East Berbice, who were allegedly robbing two fishing boat. The boats were in Suriname waters.Reportedly, the pirates commandeered one of the fishing boats and used it to attack another. There was an exchange of fire but the suspected pirates were captured.Members of the anti-piracy group reportedly claimed that they failed to get through to police. After making contact with the Coast Guard, the team decided to contact Surinamese police after a no-show from the Coast Guard.Pirates have over the years been under constant pirate attacks and despite cooperation between Guyana and Suriname, there has still been sporadic incidents. Recently, two fishermen reportedly died after being thrown from their boat. |
