‘He was me only companion’
At midday yesterday, Salimoon Rahaman observed a minute of silence for her missing son, Ricky Jainarine, still clinging to the hope that he or his remains would be found.
Salimoon Rahaman and Rick Jainarine
Other friends also ob-served the moment of silence, which the Alliance For Change had called for to be observed countrywide for Ricky and three others. After 26 days of fruitless searching, Rahaman is no closer to finding out what happened to the 10-year-old boy, who on August 11 had left their Hog Island, Essequibo River home to meet his father, Jainarine Dinanauth at Parika.
A neighbour, Henry Gibson had gone with him. The next day the bodies of Dinanauth and Gibson, both 45 years old, were found in the shattered boat which was floating just off north Hog Island. Ricky was missing. The ten-year-old lad and his mother had lived alone at their Hog Island home when Dinanauth, a miner, was away.
“He was me only companion”, Rahaman said of her youngest child, who “knew the river good” and grew up there. Fighting back her tears at Parika yesterday she recalled that he had attended the North Hog Island Primary School but she had planned to send him to a private school this term. “He was a brilliant child and active in anything”, she stated. “When I get sick and get malaria and so, he does mek tea”. She has searched and searched for him and has finally come to accept that he is dead but wants his remains so she can have some closure. “I want to find him whether he be dead or alive, I want to find him”.
Salimoon Rahaman at Parika yesterday contemplating the whereabouts of her son. (Gaulbert Sutherland photo)
She reiterated her belief that Coast Guard ranks were complicit in the incident. “I believe…somewhere they get he, they kill he or shallow grave he but they got to say where they got he”, Rahaman asserted. She said that pressure must be brought upon them to tell what they know. The army had denied claims by members of the public that its ranks were involved in the incident, after persons said that the coastguards’ boat – which is painted green – was dry-docked for three days. Green paint markings had been found on the shattered boat.
Constantly wiping her tear-filled eyes, Rahaman says that pressure must also be brought upon the authorities to act. With the help of a friend, they attempted to contact those in authority. They visited police headquarters, Eve Leary in an attempt to meet Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene but were unsuccessful. They also called the office of Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, Commodore Gary Best and were told to leave a number but no calls were returned. They called the Home Affairs Ministry to seek a meeting with Minister Clement Rohee and were told that they could not see him and were advised to write a letter. They called the Office of the President and were told to write a letter too and fax it. A number was provided and the letter – in which Rahaman requested some assistance, was sent. She said that no response was received.
So Rahaman and her relatives continued the search and combed several islands. She has even ventured into a partially collapsed tunnel at Fort Island, where persons said the body was dumped but found nothing. Days after the incident, the police had finally joined the search for a few days but it is only the family who still do so now.
The grieving woman said that she has heard nothing from the lawmen since and whenever she contacts them, it is to hear that they are investigating. The police at Wakenaam have been helpful though, she emphasized. But she said, some police officials have told her that they did not believe that it was the coast guard ranks who were involved in the incident. One told her that “the child stick somewhere and can’t raise”, she revealed.
The police have said officially that a suspect was apprehended and later released but they are still pursuing leads into a green boat that he was aboard on the day in question. The police said that the suspect was apprehended after the force received information of the suspicious movements of a boat on the night when the accident occurred. This resulted in the arrest of a male suspect from the West Demerara area. The man was questioned and he denied being involved in an accident, noting that the boat he had in his possession on the night in question did not belong to him and had returned to Venezuela. The boat in question was never found or identified. According to the police the suspect who had been in custody, had habeas corpus proceedings filed on his behalf and he was subsequently released on bail.
On August 11 when Ricky had gone to meet his father, it was not the first time that he had done so. Dinanauth had been heading to the island after returning from mining in the interior. There had been speculation that he and Gibson were robbed and then murdered.
Dinanauth was said to have had money and jewellery on him, which were not found when his body was located. The post-mortem results had also added suspicions. The autopsy results had shown that both men had died of asphyxiation due to drowning but that there was also blunt trauma to the head, chest and stomach. It was postulated that the men could have been beaten and their heads held under water. This also seemed possible as the bodies were found in the shattered boat and not in the water. The fact that the boy has not yet been found has also fuelled suspicions.
There were green paint markings on the boat and Rahaman had told Stabroek News that she believes that members of the Coast Guard had something to do with the incident, following the alleged involvement of three of them in the death of Bartica gold dealer, Dweive Kant Ramdass over two weeks ago.
She said that persons have said that there are eyewitnesses to the incident and she is appealing to them to come forward but from what she was told, they are afraid of the police.
But there is one burning question. “Where the child… if the child de drown they woulda find he”, one friend says. A grieving Rahaman and her children continue their search in the vast waters of the Essequibo.
“I can’t sey how I feel…I can’t explain my feelings”, she said when asked about how she is coping. A few friends lend their support. “There ain’t got a day when she nah call we and cry over she son”, one said.
Why don’t the persons who claimthat there are eye wittnesses come forward with names? The police who said that “The child stick somewhere and cant raise” Let the grieving mother know “ÄBOUT WHERE” HER CHILD IS STUCK; give her a clue of where she can search.
The guards on duty that night must be DRILLED or be put on NON-ACTIVE (WITHOUT PAY) They were suppose to guard the coast and they have failed their duty. Where were they when they were suppose to be on their GUARD?
ROHEE, GREENE, BEST and the whole should be officially NON-ACTIVE. They are not ACTIVE ENOUGH to be living on TAX-PAYERS money.That Mr.President does nt loose any sleep over any thing is a WELL KNOW FACT that he has ADMITTED to;but is he SO BLIND to see that things are not right in his adminstration, regardless of the Roger KHAN scandal.
Don’t give up and use every method available to keep your son’s disappearance a matter of human interest. Good job Stabroeknews.
God what is wrong with the authorities????!! What do they think they are being paid for? This is outrageous. I dread coming in on this news story. One day you hope that you can click on SN and see the good news and it just isn’t happening and it is so frustrating, this poor mother…
As a mother myself, I can’t even bear to imagine what she is going through. It is so painful to witness. Keep on looking, mommy. My prayers are with you. Don’t give up…
I love this woman, she is not relaxing a bit of her effort to find
out where her son is, DEAD or ALIVE. What a strong woman she is.
Salimoon I am not surprised at Rohee behaviour towards you in this time of grief,Rohee asked me to call him about a Commander misconduct the very next day I called him at home,I was surprised that a Minister and a close comrade of me would tell me to stop calling him and take my matter to court privately.His tone of voice was very arrogant and harsh towards me.
His attitude has sent me away from the PPP I was a long standing member of that party and a die hard,but now my family and I are gone.I had many dealings with comrade Ferouz and Ronald Gajraj these men were the best even Gail.This minister cannot work under pressures,he should resign
Now I wake and see the LIGHT. Good move my friend Kingshark.
Your stories are not in a vacuum, many many guyanese have similar experiences. These chaps are grown above the population they are so distant from the realities of the average person and their callousness and lack of concern for the average person in Guyana is just inhumane.
Time for the PPP to go. The PPP is not a party for Guyanese and Guyana anymore they are a farce.
Continued solace to the grieving fmily but this story should have ended after the first paragraph. Does SN think readers are illiterate or something that the paper has to repeat everything six or seven sories ?.
Reddy, bear with me again – take yourself 18 years back and what would have been your position then?
Reddy,
What is your vested interest in this matter? You are ridiculing SN for reporting on this matter. Don’t you believe Dinanauth and Gibson were murdered? Are you in agreement with Commissioner Greene who says there is no evidence of foul play.(He is not “privy” to any such evidence)? Are you in agreement with Commodore Best who says ‘Any suggestion that Coast Guard soldiers were involved is pure speculation’.
It is a very simple matter, Reddy. Most of the 700,000 people in this country are quite normal people. SN reported what hundreds of people who make their living at Parika Stelling say, namely, that the Coast Guard vessel did not show up for 3-days after the incident (August 11th,12th,13th). Also SN reported what observers who examined the boat say, namely, the boat was badly damaged and they also observed green paint marks on the boat. It suggested that a green-painted boat rammed Dinanauth’s boat.
Ok Reddy, I grant you this. We don’t know what happened. Maybe the observers were lying about the Coast Guard vessel missing, and also a second group of observers were also lying about the green paint marks on Dinanauth’s boat. And SN reported what these liars told their reporter.
How would you settle this matter, Reddy? Suppose you were President Jagdeo or Minister Rohee?
Do you deny, deny, deny – and ridicule the SN all the time as you are doing – and hope the matter would be swept under the proverbial rug and forgotten? I cannot imagine any govt. operating in a democratic environment anywhere in the world would do what the Jagdeo Administration is doing.
A responsible President would assign a credible official of the govt. (1) to examine the boat for evidence that it was rammed by a green painted boat (2) If the evidence is found, it would then be compared with the paint of the Coast Guard vessel. These two steps could possibly bring closure to this case. President Jagdeo has to be a take-charge president – and do what his Home Affairs Minister has refused or failed to do thus far?
Mr. Reddy, I assume you speak for the government, hence my taking the trouble to outline two simple steps to resolve the problem about the suspicions hanging over this green painted Coast Guard vessel that coincidentally was drydocked for repairs and repainting on the day after the Hog Island boat incident.
Mr. Reddy, your daily blogs on this matter is a reflection of “a hardened state of mind”. Show some sympathy and concern; after all, the facts show there is a damaged boat, two men were murdered and a ten-year-boy is missing.
Gerhard, the moderator cut two thirds, the more important part, about the involvement of the AFC. You an imagine what I said: the party should be shamed for using this tragedy for politricking .. Shame. SHAME !
Reddy, for your information the idea for the minute of silence came from Mike Persaud here. His passion is responsible for the increased awareness of this issue today. At the centre of this is a ten year old child – have you no feeling Reddy?
Why won’t you take the time to answer Mike’s questions?
I have no issue you questioning my motives, that is your right – but please, as a Gov’t. functionary, respond to the issue at hand.
Reddy that is exactly the reason we pointed out to this family that the AFC did not want to be in the forefront of this issue, because the PPP stooges like yourself would be the first to holler the AFC is politicizing the issue.
The problem is that the PPP has left this family to hang out and dry, they shameless told this woman to fax them a letter. Best has refused to return this womans calls to his office.
This shows you how heartless this government is and for you to now come on here red rover nawrman faria and holler the AFC is politicizing the issue is shameful, disgraceful and despicable.
Please law makers help her – she is in dire need of assistance. It can be one of us ……The bible speak about knocking and it will be opened ….well Law Makers that mother is KNOCKING
A visit to eve leary to see the commisioner u can’t see him, a call to hee haw u have to write a letter, go to see mr worse \best} leave a #, ask to see the president he out … send a fax, here is the fax # don’t come back here go find ur son urself, citizens of GY do realise this inept administration that governing u get them out, this is one of the simplest of crime that can b solve, this woman {Salimoon is havin sleeplest nites almost search 83,000 sq miles with no help from the suspect {army} guilty as ever, keep fighting Salimoon the victory is urs, with these ppl in power this country would never get good never they don’t even care abt themselves muchless u the ppl who put them there. GOD IS iN CHARGE.
My mind tells me that ricky may still be alive
sn all angles must be investigated, and you supressing my views won’t help to solve this problem.
No amenra.
The lad was NOT abducted and trafficked out of the country and working illegally for unscrupolus people.
Traffickers do not go to that much trouble to abduct a kid when there are plenty left unattended all over the place.
Think about it. Would you ram a boat, violently kill two adults to get one kid when you can easily go to a school and grab a few of them walking home by themselves.
This is our government friends, Best does not have the common decency to meet with this woman or return his calls. The only reason he was running to Mr. Ramdass house was because they were caught with their pants down.
As far as Rohee and Jagdoe goes well Guyanese need to wake up that is all I can say. The stooges on here can continue to defend them blindly but Guyanese need to understand and see how heartless these people are they are a disgrace.
DENY, DISMISS and DELAY – SHAME SHAME SHAME
This woman is carrying such a heavy burden, she needs closure. I hope her son is found in one way or the other and she is able to move on with life.
As Guyanese we should pool our resources and help find this woman’s son. No mother should be saddled with such heart wrenching pain of a missing child
Very sad story.My empathy to this mother. We do not know how it feels unless it happens to us.At birth we were attached to our mothers by our navel strings.Even after it was cut, that bond is there.It is disheartening however to know that such mindless thugs who commited this heinious crime exist in Guyana.Imagine such monsters are among us right now. The point here is that someone knows about this child’s whereabouts.If they have the least decency, they will anonymously tell us where this child is, if he is alive, or where his remains are if he is not.The fact that no information is forthcoming points directly to those aleady incarcerated as possible suspects in this disappearance.It is however useless to blame the gov’t, or other members of the entire security forces as they did not commit this crime, and such actions will not solve the crime.
It is however useless to blame the gov’t, or other members of the entire security forces as they did not commit this crime, and such actions will not solve the crime.
How do you know they did not commit the crime?
Is it not their responsibility to solve the crime?
You are such an apologist for the PPP it is not funny, even in the face of human tragedy you are still swallowing the PPP sup.
Why did your commandeer and rohee tell this woman to fax a letter to them instead of meeting with her?
SHAME SHAME SHAME! – Kaiser