The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a cannon from the compound of the Ministry of Public Works may have been partially solved, though police are continuing with investigations.
The police in a press release last month, said an investigation had been launched into the theft of a three-and-a-half-foot metal cannon from the Ministry of Public Works, Georgetown around January 5 this year.
Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn confirmed that the cannon was removed by a staff member of the ministry who has since been sent on leave.
A source pointed out that the suspect member of staff claimed to have carted the cannon away under the false belief that the historic piece was there to be dumped. But the minister said everyone at the Public Works Ministry would have been aware of the reasons for the cannon being where it was at the time of its disappearance.
The cannon had been presented to the Minister just before Christmas and was surreptitiously removed before an expert could properly appraise it.
Benn told this newspaper recently that the cannon was found “about four or five years ago on the upper Demerara River by people diving in the river.” It was recovered and given to an antique collector who just before Christmas “presented me with the cannon.”
The cannon is smaller than any of the cannon on display in Georgetown at the Parliament Building or Police Headquarters. It was placed in the garage area of the Ministry of Public Works to be retrieved by the Ministry of Culture. “It was outside by the garage. It is a heavy thing; it would have taken two or three persons to lift it,” the minister noted.
Before retrieving it, however, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony had suggested that an expert under his auspices examine and pronounce on the age and other particulars of the cannon.
Benn had said that everyone associated with the cannon was disappointed about its removal and that he did not believe it was one of the regular scrap metal thieves who was responsible.
