The boy who drowned in a “backwash lagoon” at Guyana Water Incorporat-ed’s (GWI), Central Ruimveldt Iron Removal treatment plant on Monday has been identified at ten-year-old Akeem Denny of Lamaha Street, Kitty.
Denny, who was a St. Gabriel’s Primary School student, was last seen alive at Bourda Market early Monday afternoon. He had gone there to see his stepfather but later left in the company of a friend he had not “seen for a long long time.” Sometime later, around 4 pm, his lifeless body was pulled from the lagoon, where persons have been repeatedly warned not to swim.
Repeated efforts yesterday contact the owner of the United Earth Movers (UEM), the contracting firm that is building the plant, for a comment was unsuccessful. However, Stabroek News has learnt that in the wake of GWI’s recent public advisory against trespassing at the facility, a resident had approached several businesses to support the formation of a youth group and the establishment of a proper recreational facility for the community. The response was negligible.
Pamela Denny’s worst fear was confirmed when hours of frantic searching for the youngest of her four children ended at the Georgetown Public Hospital in the wee hours of yesterday morning. It was there she saw her son’s lifeless body. She was in tears yesterday at her home, where relatives gathered to discuss the tragic incident. “Akeem don’t really follow friend. He don’t really go nowhere and is only up to Mash Day me and he went out on de road,” the woman said between sobs.
Stabroek News was told that the boy left home with his siblings with the intention of visiting an aunt in the West Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, a short distance from the lagoon. Travis, 14, recounted that the boy apparently changed his mind and was going with their sister, Podessa, 17 to visit her friend somewhere in the Kitty area.
Travis said later he left Akeem at his aunt’s home and went to Albouystown to join Phagwah celebrations. Travis then told Akeem not to leave the house but when he returned about two hours later he found the boy covered in powder and he instructed him to go home. Travis said that he followed him through an alleyway in the area and saw when he boarded a minibus.
At this point, Podessa interjected, saying that Akeem ended up at her father in Bourda Market, where he met a friend. She overheard him asking his friend, who was around his age, where he was going. The friend reportedly replied that he was going to swim and, according to Podessa, the two left the area.
Carol, Akeem’s aunt, was distressed over the incident yesterday. She said because she was tired she was unable to keep an eye on the boy, whom she described as “frisky.” She recalled that every year Akeem would come at her home to play Phagwah with the other children in the area. On Monday, she recalled him saying, “I got to play Phagwah, I got to get wet today.” She said that she remembered him coming to her for money to catch a bus and she instructed him to go straight home. Early in the evening, she said, her daughter informed her that a boy had drowned in the lagoon but no one knew his identity. Prior to this, Pamela had been repeatedly calling the home enquiring about Akeem’s whereabouts and when Carol finally spoke with her, mention was made of the drowning. Carol said that when at midnight the boy was still not home, she told Pamela to check at the police station. The woman recalled that when she received the call that her nephew was the child that had drowned she was in disbelief.
As Pamela spoke of reports that the boys who were with her son ran away after he went under, she broke down in tears. Akeem could not swim and according to relatives this might have been his first time at the lagoon. “Children need to stay away from there because they gon only leave their parents in grief and pain,” the woman said.
The woman, who is employed as a casual staffer at the Stabroek News printery, said that because of how she works, most of her time is spent away from home.
Relatives visited the site yesterday and recovered the boy’s sandals. His t-shirt is in police custody but his pants are missing. They were adamant that children will continue to swim at this dangerous spot if something is not done urgently to better secure it.
Meanwhile, almost two weeks after the GWI issued a statement advising persons to desist from entering the area, a resident wrote to several companies in the area, exploring their interest in support the creation of a youth group and a recreational facility for the youths in the community. Three companies responded.
In one of the letters seen by this newspaper, the resident, who asked that his name not be published, said that the use of the dangerous area points to a social delinquency within the community. The resident stated that he was willing to volunteer his time and services towards establishing a public/private partnership inclusive of a youth group, GWI and Mayor and City Council, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the Guyana Fire Service and established private sector agencies within the community.
The resident was adamant that this initiative would only be fruitful with private sector support.
