A city businessman is at his wits’ end after burglars yesterday attempted to break into his stall at Bourda Green for the second time in as many weeks.
Goolmohamed Rahaman, who owns G Rahaman Bacchus wholesale and retail outlet as well as a supermarket on Hadfield Street, said he is contemplating “shutting shop and migrating.”
Overcome with frustration, he told Stabroek News that he doesn’t know where else to turn. He explained that over the years he was the victim of several break-ins at the Bourda location.
Hours after being told of the latest breakage, Rahaman explained that after the last incident he provided the city constabulary who are responsible for securing stalls in the market with some information but they failed to act.
Repeated efforts yesterday to contact Chief Constable Andrew Foo were futile.
“Nobody nah tek steps [to prevent these things]. They only collecting yuh money,” the upset businessman told Stabroek News during a telephone interview. He said that within a month burglars targeted his stall but failed twice. However, on February 22, they managed to enter by breaking a small hole at the front of the stall. The perpetrators escaped with some $800,000 which was in a bucket, ten cases of Red Bull, nine cases of chicken cubes and eight cases of tinned sausages.
Rahaman is clueless as to why he is being targeted, but believes there is some collusion between the burglars and constabulary officers.
The man pointed out that ‘junkies’ who hang around the area are a good source of information, while adding that they need to be removed from the markets. “I don’t know what else to do… we getting breakage too steady and that nah fair. I am tired of this thing and frustrated,” he said before informing this newspaper that he has often complained to police and the constabulary but nothing is being done.
He is convinced that he was targeted a second time because of what was stolen on the last occasion.
When Stabroek News visited the stall, yesterday morning, a small hole was evident. The burglars had apparently tried hitting the area which was broken before with a sledge hammer and after it did not give way, started pounding away on a nearby spot.
Rahaman’s wife, Indra Bacchus related that just after 07:00 hrs they were informed that persons had attempted to break into the stall and when she arrived; two city constables were standing there “watching de hole.”
The woman said the constables told her they saw three men committing the act and when the men spotted them the men ran away. Rahaman later said that according to the constables they give chase but failed to catch the men.
Indra told this newspaper that the bandits could not get very far since they had reinforced the front of the stall with steel sheeting after the last break-in.
The steel was visible through the hole the burglar’s made. “What ah gon say? We frustrated…,” she said when asked what would be their next move.
At the time of this newspaper’s visit, police had not visited the scene although a report had been made. They later contacted Rahaman, saying that they needed a statement from him.
Indra, meanwhile, said she wants the City Constabulary to “put propa people because we paying a lot of money when de month up and we still losing.”
