‘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.
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”.
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.
