Despite a police presence at the Stabroek Market Square, robberies and attempted robberies are still being committed on persons who frequent the area to conduct business or visit.
The most recent case highlighted revealed that two foreigners were attacked by bandits there. T. Pemberton, in a letter to the editor on Tuesday, described what he witnessed. “There were two men – clearly foreigners – surrounded by a mob who apparently were about to launch an attack,” he wrote.
Commander of ‘A’ Division Marlon Chapman, when contacted, said to his knowledge, no report of the attack was made to the police. He, however, pointed out that he was made aware of the incident while reading the newspapers.
Chapman said that while there is a policing system in place at the Stabroek Market, incidents still occur. He said that the number of persons traversing the area, outnumbers the law enforcement officers stationed there.
However, that does not prevent the police from carrying out frequent patrols around the market, the commander added.
“Most times these incidents happen as soon as the police turn their backs. I have placed senior officers and junior officers around the market area…” as a means of beefing up the security around the market, Chapman said.
According to Pemberton’s account, the foreigners were outnumbered, and all hell broke loose during the attack last Sunday. “The thinner of the foreign nationals managed to run a little way from his colleague who was left to do battle,” he wrote.
He said that the attackers were armed and one threw his cycle at the man who was left to defend himself.
The incident occurred at around 6:50 pm on Sunday night and it is unclear whether or not the men were robbed during the attack.
The foreign national, who was left to fend off the gang, was able to retrieve an item to aid in his defence to keep the mob at bay but they just kept charging towards him, Pemberton wrote.
“He was very agile and I suspect he is trained with some skill because he managed to keep them at bay every time they kept charging in a circular manner. I think he realised he couldn’t keep up with the mob and started to retreat towards the direction of the Guyana Fire Service,” Pemberton wrote. He related that while the two foreigners reunited at the Guyana Fire Service headquarters, during the ordeal, no one offered any assistance.
“Absolutely no one came to the rescue of the two foreigners for the time I stood there looking on. Even me, I couldn’t do anything,” he said in his letter while pointing out that he is ashamed as a local to witness such a barbaric attack on those two foreign nationals.
He further warned embassies and foreign nationals in Guyana to “don’t ever dwell around the Stabroek Market Area.”
The City Constabulary also has a presence in the area; nonetheless, robberies and attacks are prevalent and carried out on a daily basis on visitors, vendors and commuters who utilise the area.
