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Fishermen missing at sea for over 10 days
– relatives lament lack of assistance from relevant authorities
There is still no trace of the two fishermen from Rosignol, West Bank Berbice who left their homes more than a week ago for the high seas. The men went out to sea around 6:30 am on Saturday 18th and hopes of them being found alive are quickly disappearing although relatives are still praying for their safe return.
Missing are boat owner Mahendra Ompertab, 29 ,known as ‘Rub’ of Lot 318 Rosignol Village, West Bank Berbice and his brother-in-law, Kanhai Madramootoo, 42, of the same address. The men, who are attached to the Rosignol Fishermen’s Co-op Society, left their Rosignol base in a small white, red and green boat fitted with a 40-hp engine on a journey which does not usually last more than 12 hours. In fact they were expected to return around 16:00 hours the same day that they left.
Mahendra Ompertab
After the men did not return, a team of fishermen from the area went out on Sunday with a number of boats and searched as far as possible for the missing men, but to no avail. They continued searching the next day, but still came up empty handed.
The Coast Guard belatedly joined the search on Tuesday, some three days after the men were reported missing, but ended that mission soon after stating that they ran out of gas.
Ompertab’s wife Debbie said that the search is ongoing.
They continue to search the foreshore and banks of the river in the event that the men might be stranded or would have washed up on the shore.
They are also on the lookout for any wreckage of the missing boat. “They just can’t disappear like that,” the woman lamented. She is hoping that they might have drifted away to Suriname or somewhere else and would return soon.
Although hopeful and still praying to the almighty for the best, the families are slowly coming terms with the fact that anything could have happened.
Ompertab is a father of three, while Madramootoo fathers two.
The families are disappointed that no one from the government has contacted them so far and are wondering if the men’s disappearance is not of any significance.
They were hoping that by now they would have heard from the government and are also hoping that the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy would visit them, but to date they have been disappointed.
The fishermen’s wives are pleading for monetary assistance from the government to find the men and to send their children to school.
The relatives said that to date they have not purchased anything for school and do not know how they will make out since the men were the breadwinners of their families.
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