Biting another chunk out of crime

Aug 31, 2008 Features / Columnists

President Bharrat Jagdeo was the first person to say that the law enforcement authorities would not rest until they have captured Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins.

This view was also echoed by the security forces, which received clear instructions from their Commander-in-Chief.

The Government spared no pains, because it has a responsibility to ensure that all the people of this country live in peace and harmony.

The fact that some people lost loved ones at the hand of this notorious criminal only served to spur the Government to further action; to intensify the hunt for Guyana’s most wanted — Rondell Rawlins.

The hunt for ‘Fine Man’ is over, but the search for his cohorts and sponsors continue. Everyone by now in Guyana, and even those farther afield, some of them who fled these shores because of this man’s ruthlessness, would have heard the news. The authorities have cornered him and killed him in the ensuing gunfight.

The Government hastens to say that it was not easy. The man was the most elusive of criminals in this society, and the fact that it took more than five years to catch him tells a story of people working against the law enforcement agencies and supporting the criminals. It tells a story that there are still people in the society who are prepared to encourage lawlessness.

Rawlins hid in Buxton for years, and was given the protection of some Buxtonians, many of whom he killed when he felt that they were having second thoughts about the right for him to be there. Life meant nothing to Rawlins, so he snuffed it out at will.

If the people of Buxton should sit back and examine their life over the past six years, they would find that criminals like Rawlins helped ostracise them to the point that, when some of them went in search of jobs, once they stated that they came from Buxton, people declined to employ them.

There were political operatives who helped the criminals to terrorize ordinary Buxtonians and mislead youngsters.

Only the Buxtonians could tell you how many of them pretended to live elsewhere. They can also tell the world that many of them abandoned their homes in the village because they were afraid to live in the very village that nurtured them.

Some of these Buxtonians had enough of the terror and began to cooperate with the law enforcement officers, but they did so at a price. Those who reported criminal activities had to hide to do so, and they risked their lives.

While there is a celebratory mood throughout the country, people in Buxton are still afraid to reveal their true feelings, because the people who insist on encouraging lawlessness still remain in the village.

Buxton is not the only village that has the problem of seeking to rid itself of criminal elements. Agricola is another; and again, in that community, there are people who would direct criminals to those who want to cooperate with the police, not realizing that today they may be friends of the criminals, but tomorrow they might be enemies and be killed in the same way the criminals kill those whom they confront.

When the Government decided to better outfit the law enforcement agencies, there was talk about the money being wasted, and people gloated whenever there was news that Fine Man had eluded his pursuers.

Those investments have not been in vain, because many gang members are in jail and others are dead. The Government is certain that it has broken the back of the gang.

There are still many unanswered questions, some of which may never be answered unless people volunteer the information.

The authorities would like to know who transported Fine Man around the country, past Joint Services’ roadblocks, past patrols, and to locations that the ordinary people never heard about.

They would also like to know who provided him with communication equipment, such as mobile phones, and who fed him even as the Joint Services hunted him. One raid of one of his camps yielded much food and medical supplies that could have kept him safe for months.

They would want to know how he had access to army weapons that disappeared under the administration of former Chief of Staff Edward Collins.

There is also the issue of the money he collected from his various attacks on helpless businessmen. The police have found none, although Fine Man had been known to rob people of millions of dollars.

There is also the question of people’s accessibility to him. He had been on the run for years, but Jermaine Charles, who just escaped from jail, was able to find him and even link up with him.

It means that, right up to the time the Joint Services cornered Fine Man, there were people on the outside who were in touch with him.

The police have recovered some cellular phones, and they are going to track the numbers on those phones with a view to questioning the people who have those numbers.

The police would have liked to arrest Fine Man, but he shot at them and left them with no choice, so many of the questions will remain unanswered.
All political parties and several civil groups have commended the Commander-in-Chief and the forces for this break. Sadly, the PNCR is still silent. Why?

The Government is persevering in its fight against the criminals, and no one can blame the Government for this.

If there must be blame, cast it on those who want to see a perpetuation of the criminal regime, not on the Government.