The five men held in connection with Sunday’s Pomeroon River pirate attack have been released on station bail pending advice on possible charges from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Police sources yesterday informed that the case against the men, who were released on $10,000 station bail, is weak, since they were not positively identified by the fishermen.
The men, who all hail from Essequibo, were arrested on Sunday afternoon following a piracy alert by a fishing crew. The crewmembers of the vessel ‘Sapna’ had alerted the owner that a suspicious boat, with suspected pirates, was pursuing them. They then steered their vessel to the nearest shore, where they quickly abandoned it and fled on foot. The owner of the vessel in turn alerted maritime officials, who activated a search party to find both the crew and the suspected pirates.
The men were found and their vessel was later recovered minus the catch and fuel that was on board. The missing items were estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Police sources close to the investigation told this newspaper that the men who were held maintained that they were legitimate fishermen and not pirates and suggested that their arrest had been unduly sensationalised. The sources said that all the persons held were not identified and that the stolen items were not found with them, making the case against the men weak. The five men were only arrested in the vicinity of the crime scene based on a description of a boat.
Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy used the latest attack to reinforce what he had previously stated on vessels being equipped with telecommunication devices. He informed that his ministry was currently conducting a marketing exercise to test durability and cost of homing and telecommunication devices, which many fishermen at a conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture, had said they could not afford. “We are currently engaging companies and looking at reasonable yet durable devices so as to equip all of our vessels with the needed communication devices,” he said. Ramsammy added that shortly there will be a trial testing period on devices explored.
Meanwhile, questions have been raised as to why Repsol’s helicopter had to be used in the operation and not any of those belonging to the Guyana Defence Force, but when contacted, army Chief of Staff Gary Best would not comment on the issue.
However, a senior army officer, who requested anonymity, and who is au fait with the specifications and flying of helicopters, told Stabroek News that the army’s choppers’ were not intended for operations at sea. “When these helicopters were bought, they were not bought to carry out search and rescue missions at sea, they were for land operations; as such, their specifications did not require them to be rigged with floats , mandatory for operations over seas,” the officer explained.
Another high ranking GDF official echoed much of what the first official had said while explaining the high cost of dual purpose helicopters. That official said that the Bell 412 chopper could now be adjusted with sea landing devices, required by aviation authorities for flying long distances over sea, but that it would be extremely costly. “Amphibious helicopters are not two shillings … when those were bought, it was on a budget of what we could afford at the time.
Many would criticise and say that we should have thought ahead and prepared but it is not that simple …at the time the focus was on helicopters for use in land operations …we can now have them upgraded and fitted with utility floats, for both land and sea landing, but it is going to be very costly and we don’t have that kind of money.
That is the reality,” the official said.
Efforts to contact Minister of Transport Robeson Benn, both by phone and visits to his office, for comment proved futile. Stabroek News also sought a comment from Head of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Claudette Rogers, but was told by her secretary that she was out of her office for an all-day meeting. When her office was contacted in the afternoon, this newspaper was told that Rogers would not be in for the rest of the day.
