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Many crimes in Mahdia unreported- Regional Chairman
– residents, miners distrust police
Region Eight Chairman, Mark Crawford, has stated that security is a major issue in the mining district of
Regional Chairman Mark Crawford
Mahdia but many crimes are unreported and are therefore not reflected in police reports. This, he pointed out, has given a false impression that Mahdia’s crime rate is low.
Crawford made the revelation during a recent interview with this publication and indicated that very soon he would be engaging the Divisional Commander to discuss security issues affecting Mahdia and other communities in the Region.
According to Crawford, the majority of the crimes committed in Mahdia are unreported because many residents and miners distrust the police. This reportedly started a few years ago when an Amerindian man was shot by a rank for no apparent reason and the matter “died a slow death”.
The Regional Chairman related that many crimes could have been prevented if the police were constantly monitoring activities on the Mahdia Landing. He added with Mahdia having a landing status, the police could remove persons who are not gainfully employed if they are serious about crime prevention.
However, that is not being done and many persons, especially Amerindian men, who engage in Mahdia’s busy night life, are usually robbed. In addition, many abuses against women including commercial sex workers are also unreported owing to the same distrust between the public and the police.
According to a dredge owner, almost every night a young girl is raped in Mahdia, but nothing is being done to address this situation. These rapes, Crawford said, are not taken seriously since people have the perception that women are sex objects. Moreover, the women are more intimidated by the police, he added.
Crawford further asserted that the police have always taken the position that if crimes are not reported they cannot take action. In addition, ranks operating at Mahdia do not have a vehicle. This hinders their ability to conduct patrols in the district’s terrain.
He added that on several occasions whenever crimes occur in mining camps, the police responses are slow, resulting in the perpetrators fleeing the scene.
The official stressed that though ranks stationed at Mahdia are operating with limited resources, on different occasions they were able to capture some culprits and retrieve narcotics, drugs and ammunition in the backdam.
Crawford noted that those discoveries signaled that these destructive items are either bypassing police checkpoints at the Highway Patrol Base or at Mabura Police Station before reaching Mahdia.
He opined that ranks operating at the Mabura Police Station are not executing their duties effectively. In fact, most times the vehicles transporting passengers and their luggage go unsearched, Crawford emphasized. “The ranks are only concerned about the names on the travel documents.”.
He said that these security challenges need to be addressed swiftly since Mahdia’s mining operations are expanding and many persons are leaving other Regions to seek employment.
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