Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
‘Fine Man’ reward went towards the general well being of the security forces
– President Jagdeo
President Bharrat Jagdeo, during a recent interview conducted exclusively with the National Communications Network (NCN), said that the reward for the killing of Rondell “Fine Man” Rawlins that was paid to the security forces went toward the “general well being of all of the members of the Joint Services.”
Following the Lusignan and Bartica massacres earlier this year, a reward of $50M was announced for information leading to the death or capture of “Fine Man.”
President Bharrat Jagdeo
Following his death at the hands of the Joint Services, it was announced that the entity would receive the monies and as such the National Assembly approved the sum of $50M for the payment of the reward.
Twenty million of that money went to the Guyana Police Force whilst another $20M was handed over to the Guyana Defence Force. Another $10M was entrusted to the Defence Board for disbursement.
It is believed that this $10M would be paid to the informant that provided information which led to the slaying of ‘Fine Man’ and his cohort Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles for whom a $2M and later upgraded to $10M reward was announced.
To date, it is unclear whether this money has been paid.
Meanwhile, the reward that was announced for the capture or killing of Neil Bovell has also still not been paid.
On December 27, 2006, the three-year manhunt for Bovell ended when he was gunned down by the police at Inner Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara.
The ex-cop was riddled with bullets as he fled from his father’s house in an attempt to seek refuge in a thickly vegetated area nearby.
The police had received a call from someone in the area that Bovell was at his father’s house. A senior rank and a party of policemen responded in an unmarked car.
Upon seeing the ranks, Bovell, who was reportedly preparing to cook a meal, made a dash for freedom, but by then the ranks had managed to surround the area.
Bovell led the ranks on a dramatic chase through a muddy track, dodging bullets.
He managed to flee as far as a few lots away but was eventually cornered and killed.
Bovell’s father is currently before the courts charged with harbouring a fugitive.
The insinuation of the President during the recent interview was that the monies paid to the Joint Services were not specifically for the ranks involved in the slaying of the most wanted men in Guyana at the time.
The administration had come in for harsh criticism when it announced that the monies would be paid to the Joint Services.
The Opposition party had lamented the fact that it would turn members of the Joint Services into bounty hunters.
During a PNCR press briefing, one of its executive members, Aubrey Norton had said that for Government to offer some of the $60M reward that was being offered for the capture or killing of wanted men Rondell ‘Fine Man’ Rawlins and Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles to members of the Joint Services will be setting a dangerous precedent and will lay down conditions for the creation of bounty hunters.
He expressed the view that the party would be pleased if the Joint Services are, instead, given an increase in salary.
He noted that a reward should be given to the person(s) who provided the Joint Services with information, which resulted in the capture of the two wanted men.
To the best of his knowledge, he said, the Joint Services did not provide any such information.
He added also that even if the Joint Services were acting on information that they unearthed, that was their job.
Norton also pointed out that it was an even more dangerous precedent, given that we are living in the age of the ‘Phantom Squad’.
The Alliance for Change leader had also expressed similar sentiments on several occasions.
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