-Seven weeks later only one person charged over 23 Lusignan, Bartica murders
In the aftermath of two bloody massacres that claimed the lives of 23 people here and other challenges in the region, Caricom is convening a special summit on security for next month in Trinidad.
The communiqué from the two-day heads of government summit in The Bahamas on Friday and Saturday said that the leaders agreed the special summit “to fully explore the crime and security issues facing the Region and to agree to a Strategy and Action Plan to stem the rising tide of violent criminality”.
Yesterday’s Trinidad Express reported Prime Minister Patrick Manning as saying that while new initiatives were being sought, Caricom was not losing the war on crime.
“What we are doing is pausing and taking a second look at it to see perhaps where there might have initiatives to be taken that we didn’t take or other ideas we may now have as we seek to take the war on crime to a new level and that is why we have invited the Heads to come to Port of Spain in early April,” Manning told the newspaper.
In relation to his presentation at the summit on threat assessment, Manning told the Trinidad Express: “I certainly got the impression that all leaders were sensitised to the seriousness of the threat and that is really what we were about.” Prior to the Bahamas summit Manning had proposed the setting up of a regional security force to address serious crime and this is likely to be further discussed.
During a news conference at the Sheraton on Friday night in The Bahamas, Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson said Caricom does not need any foreign law enforcement agencies to completely take over the job, the newspaper reported.
According to the communique, the leaders agreed that an extraordinary joint meeting of the Standing Committee of Police and the Standing Committee of Military Chiefs would be held before the meeting of the Council of Ministers responsible for National Security Law Enforcement (CONSLE). The latter meeting will take place just before the special summit.
“Heads of Government requested that a draft amendment to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to give effect to their decision to make Security the Fourth Pillar of the integration movement be presented to the meeting of CONSLE for review prior to submission to the Inter-Governmental Task Force”, the communiqué added.
The region has been shocked by the massacres here on January 26 and February 17 at Lusignan and Bartica respectively. Following the Bartica attack Trinidad dispatched a helicopter here and also agreed to provide specialized weapons for use by the security forces.
The police force and army here have been hamstrung by a lack of resources and there was no helicopter to respond to either of the two massacres.
Thus far only one person has been charged over the Lusignan murders and while several people have been questioned in relation to the Bartica massacre no one has been charged.
The government has come under severe pressure to produce results and has convened a national stakeholders’ forum for broad agreement on the way ahead.
Bucktown
The discovery of a gun that was stolen during the Bartica killings, at Bucktown in Wismar, Linden two Saturdays ago has confirmed that at least some of the gunmen travelled through that community but the question as to whether the joint services would have been able to apprehend them remains as this newspaper was told that it would have taken only two hours from Bartica to Linden travelling on both river and road.
While it is not clear if this is what they did immediately following the massacre, persons have pointed out that this is possible.
A press release from the Joint Services last Wednesday said that a 12-gauge shotgun that has been confirmed as being one of those stolen from the home of Bartica miner, Chunilall Baboolall on February 17 was found in the area surrounding the camp.
Residents of the community had recalled seeing strange men in the area after the Bartica incident but as they were dressed in army fatigues they took them for army ranks.
Two days after the killings, on February 19 a large Joint Services operation took place in Linden and was focused on the Wisroc backlands and the road trail linking Linden and Bartica.
The search was abandoned some three hours after. According to a Linden resident this newspaper spoke with there was always a sense in the community that an adequate amount of time was not spent in the area during that very critical period. Prior to the Joint Services entering Linden, information was received that a number of men robbed a truck that came out of the interior the day following the Bartica attack. The men took cash and jewellery from the persons in the truck but no shots were fired.
Given that in the space of two hours the men could have moved from Bartica to Linden, the source said it raises the question as to whether the joint services response was fast enough to enable them to capture the men.
From all indications at least some of the gunmen travelled via the Essequibo River from Bartica to the Sheribana crossing and thence to Linden. According to the source, from Bartica to the crossing would have taken a half of an hour though it would have taken a person with a good knowledge of the river to navigate it.
Shortly after the Bartica incident a 75 horse power engine was found drifting at St. Mary’s, a hinterland community a few miles away from Bartica and via the river, ten minutes away from the Sheribana crossing. While it is believed that the gunmen used more than one boat, the other has yet to be found and this newspaper was told that given the nature of the river at the crossing, there are lots of places to conceal a boat.
It is not clear if any searches were conducted in the vicinity of the crossing. Stabroek News was told that there are foot trails leading to the road from St. Mary’s. Other reports had also suggested that the St. Mary’s boat may have been a decoy and that the men instead fled north after leaving Bartica into the Atlantic.
Chairman of Region Seven, Holbert Knights when contacted yesterday stated that persons in the community were talking about the discovery and while stating that “the gun is the only indication we have that the men might have been in or through Linden”, pointed out that it is not known how many of the men were actually there.
