I predicted many of the murders in Guyana

Jul 15, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Security is a stereotypical public good which is unrivaled in society. Thus, the provision of private security services is a socio-political function which is more often conducted along the lines of the state’s security structure which tends to influence and fashion the philosophical approach of many private security operatives.
During 1999, I told several colleagues in the private security industry that given the showings at that time, Guyana would experience a total breakdown of law and order in the not too distant future. Most agreed with me except for two gentlemen who form the basis of this article.
On the 29th March 1999, I visited criminologist Mr Errol Vannooten, MSc, at his High Street, Kingston office for him to assist me with tracking an individual who had owed a client of mine a large sum of money. I told him that it was my view that Guyana would crumble under the weight of crime in a few years; that the police would no longer have the capacity to enforce the rule of law, as many of them would die, and that the private security industry would assume greater prominence.
I asked him whether he ever gets any work from the government, and he said no! And I assured him that in a little while he will get work, lots of work.
He said that while he respected my views as a security professional he did not see any of that coming. He said that the government will find a way, some way, around that kind of disaster, even if it were through unpopular means, and assured me that none of it would ever happen, especially when it comes to the government employing him.
That evening I shared that conversation with Senior Inspector of Police, Leyland October, (deceased) at the Scottish Flower Lodge during a civic function.
He asked about Vannooten’s response and said like Vannooten, that he did not feel that any of that could ever happen. He said that I was only one person, however, the police management team was made up of several persons with a collective experience of nearly 500 years. “If they did not see that coming, then nothing was really coming.”
Prior to Leyland October’s death in 2002, matters pertinent to his security were discussed on at least twelve occasions at the Scottish Flower and Grand Lodge levels. I made it clear to October that I strongly felt that he would be killed should things get out of control.
The first sign that all was not well, was when I observed that he was not being afforded sufficient time to pursue his studies at the University of Guyana. I raised this issue one evening, but it was discontinued due to his absence. The following month I raised it again; this time he was present. I asked him a straight question: Is it true that whenever one becomes a Chief Inspector of Police one does not get any other promotion? He along with many other former senior ranks of the Police Force tried to convince me that this was not the case, and cited examples where several persons were promoted beyond that point.
Then there was this rumour that the then Commissioner of Police, Laurie Lewis, was frustrating his efforts to obtain his Duty Free Concession to purchase a car. As I had occasion to meet with the commissioner, I used the opportunity to raise this issue with him, during my stay which lasted for approximately two and a half hours. The commissioner told me that he felt that October was a dedicated and conscientious cop who deserved his due and assured me that he will receive it in due course.
Well, October got his car as the Commissioner said, he died as I said and Vannooten got a big job with the Ministry of Home Affairs until he returned to the USA in 2008. I even tried to relocate October overseas, but as it seemed he was fixated on remaining in Guyana come what may.
When the crime wave started to get out of control I sent  an emissary to talk to him once more and he assured me that he would maintain a low profile until his retirement  in just over two years as he was then 52 years plus.
Exactly, one month prior to his death October collected me from a wedding reception at the Water Chris Hotel at 1:30 in the morning and drove me around the block to my office; he asked me if I still felt he was in danger and I replied more so now than ever!
He asked me what he could do at this juncture, and I said talk to your superiors! He parked and I exited his car and went into my office. One month later he was dead. I later found out that he was reluctant to talk to his superiors, since several operations on which he had worked had been compromised by subordinates. Well, the rest is history.
During 1998, a Guyanese-Brazilian told me that she had been asked by her Brazilian boss to translate some papers. She said that her boss was being threatened by his creditors in Mozambique for the $200.000 remainder of a US$500.000 loan. For me, several things signaled that all would not be well with Guyana; the first had to do with what was going on in the Southern African country of Mozambique at that time.
It transpired that two notorious gangsters, the Abdul Satar brothers, who at that time operated the Uni Cambio Money Exchange in downtown Maputo, were lords unto themselves.
I was further convinced that Guyana was in trouble when one of the brothers fled Mozambique and sought refuge in Kenya, the Mozambican government appealed to the Kenyan government to extradite the gangster. Elements in Mozambique threatened to kill an entire village in Kenya which was believed to have provided safe haven to Satar. It was during those hearings that the true extent of the Satar empire was revealed.
It came to light that they had investments in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean and South America. I was certain that their tentacles had reached Guyana. Some time later, I called up my good friend who happened to be the father in law of the late Farouk Razak who operated the Swiss House Cambio, and told him that I was in receipt of information which led me to believe that his son in law was in a lot of trouble.
I told him to brace himself, for if it ever happens then it would spell disaster for his daughter and the rest of his family. Well, about two years later Razak was murdered. When I met my friend after his daughter was incarcerated for allegedly killing her husband, I assured him that his daughter was being held for safe keeping as there was no evidence to convict her for the murder of Razak.
I assured him that she would be released immediately after the case commenced, which did happen. I was more concerned with her immediate safety than the murder charge, since I had this feeling that there were transnational implications.
In 2000 I wanted to establish a relationship with a security college in the USA; I called up the US Embassy and asked to speak to the RSO. He asked me what he should tell the gentleman at the college to convince him that he should come on board.
I said, “Tell him that the US cannot protect their citizens and interest here unless Guyanese are in a position to do so first, for in a little while we will be trying to kidnap diplomats and the like”.
I don’t know what the RSO told the fellow but he contacted me the following week. Did we not see the kidnapping of a member of the US diplomatic corps?
Even while the crime wave was the, many senior police officials were still in denial, especially after the Lusignan murders.
My opening remarks then were actually directed at Mr Roshan Khan who was one of the first persons in the private security industry to admit publicly, that many Guyanese are reluctant to pay a small fee, to be escorted by a security company, whenever they were doing large money transactions at city banks.
In fact, he is the person most often quoted whenever and whereever this behaviour is discussed in Guyana.
So exactly how did his guards become the victims of a cash in transit robbery? Not because he did not heed his own advice but rather, because he got away with a certain kind of behaviour for too long.
In Yoga, Mr Khan knows what is meant when I say one’s short comings if not checked, will soon become one’s destiny. When I wrote about  the problems which Mr. Khan reported in the press in 2007,  concerning cash in transit pickups at city banks, he “bused out “ if he would revisit those letters he would notice that they are still relevant today.
The central theme then, and now being, that there are certain steps which could be taken by the transporters of cash to appreciably decrease their chances of victimization. In my mind, Mr Khan now seems to be thinking and behaving like many of the persons I have encountered in the state’s security force over the years, nothing can happen until it happens! hence my opening remarks.
Clairmont Featherstone

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