Fisherman knifed to death by neighbour

Aug 11, 2010 News

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By Jenelle Carter

Just after noon yesterday, a 43-year-old fisherman, Nandalall Bopat, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Leonora Cottage Hospital. The man’s upper body bore several gaping wounds, while one across his abdomen left his intestines protruding. He had been mercilessly knifed.
Up to press time last evening, police on the West Coast of Demerara were trying to locate a neighbour of the dead man whom they believe was responsible for the vicious attack which occurred in broad daylight.
The dead man’s wife, Doreen Sahadeo Sirnauth, told this newspaper that she was at their 31 De Groot Squatting Area home when she got the message that her husband was lying on a dam not far from their home bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds.
According to the woman after receiving the news she did not venture out because she was in shock. However the man’s son, Salim Amin, recounted that earlier in the day his father, after returning from sea, said he was not feeling well and he wanted to sleep.
“He eat and he go and lay down lil and den he lef saying he going and charge he phone by he friend. A lil while after I hear people screaming on de road.” The lad said when he ran out to see what the commotion was about he noticed his father lying in the grass with his intestines protruding.
“All I see is people stand up watching and he (name given) walking away with a knife in he hand.  He ain’t even run, he walk away calm, but nobody ain’t go behind he because dem de frighten.”

According to the boy, the man who attacked his father was under the influence of alcohol on Sunday and began abusing his mother verbally.
“Just like da he come and start cussing up mommy and saying how he and she deh and he gon kill she.”
Amin said his mother left their home and made a report to the Leonora Police Station. At that time the boy said his father, who works on a fishing vessel, was out at sea. He said his mother was advised to return home since the ranks promised to visit the area to deal with the matter. However the police never followed through on their promise, Amin said, and this was reiterated by his mother. As a result, he said his mother returned to the station on Monday morning and was once again told that investigators would visit the scene, but that never happened.
“Monday morning when meh father come from sea he had a lil talking with mommy and ask she why she ain’t go to de police and she tell he she went but dem ain’t do nothing…so daddy go to de man and talk to he calm,”.
The teen said after the man and his father had a conversation on Monday he thought that that was the end of the issue.
“Like dis man wait fuh he, but we thought it done, because daddy and this man does wuk together.”
Meanwhile when this newspaper visited the scene where the act was committed, patches of blood were evident on the parapet. Several residents in the area disclosed that they only knew what transpired after hearing the wailing of persons in the street.   Public spirited citizens then assisted the man into a vehicle and he was taken to Leonora Cottage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and was later handed over to Thomas funeral parlour.
“If people did tie off de man belly he woulda live, cause air went in and he just was bleeding.” one male resident opined.
At Nandalall’s home friends and relatives gathered, one man disclosed that “he was a good and bad man but he didn’t had to go so.”
The search continues for the alleged perpetrator.

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Ozone-depleting substances…

Guyana one step closer in curtailing use

Guyana has moved one step further in reducing the use of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) with a draft plan being discussed.
In Guyana, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are being used in the refrigeration and air-condition unit businesses, as well as the manufacturing of foam. To some extent, it is also being used in the fire extinguisher sector.
Yesterday, a number of stakeholders who directly use ODS gathered at the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss a management plan to phase out their use with the intentions to seek funding to convert Guyana to alternative, less hazardous substances.
Guyana has until 2030 to fully covert to alternative uses under the Montreal Protocol.
Addressing the gathering, Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, noted that there has been intense training with over 50 Customs Officers and other affected persons benefitting.
Already, Guyana has complied and is at least one year ahead in some obligations, a laudable achievement given the fact that it is a small country with limited resources.

Work to reduce ODS is significant in itself especially when taken in the context that it contributes in the larger fight against climate change.
The very unpredictability of the weather has seen some dangerous situations, especially in light of flooding in India, Pakistan and conditions in Moscow.
Guyana is serious about keeping its eye on the ball and playing its role to mitigate climate change and also being compliant to new developments, the Minister assured.
Turning his attention to a recent report of Survival International, an NGO organization which says that Amerindian tribes will be displaced by a planned hydro-electric project in the Upper Mazaruni area, Minister Persaud was certain that no one can question Guyana’s work and commitment on environmental management with the country right on track.
While noting that there are some businesses and other stakeholders who may have felt some “discomfort” with the changes which are designed to better prepare Guyana, the official warned that there must be adaption.
Guyana is a Party to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
The National Ozone Action Unit (NOAU) was created within the Hydrometeorological Service, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture, and is mandated to ensure that Guyana complies with its obligations under the Montreal Protocol.
The country has been working with the UNEP and its partners to meet its obligations under this Protocol, to phase out of CFCs used in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry.
The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.
The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987, and entered into force on January 1, 1989, followed by a first meeting in Helsinki, May 1989. Since then, it has undergone seven revisions, in 1990 (London), 1991 (Nairobi), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1993 (Bangkok), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing). It is believed that if the international agreement is adhered to, the ozone layer is expected to recover by 2050.
Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation with Kofi Annan quoted as saying that “perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol”.

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