Bosai worker says he was wrongfully detained by police …demands apology from employers

Jan 22, 2015 News

---

Jerry Joseph of Wismar, Linden, an employee of Bosai Bauxite INC, is demanding that the Management of Bosai make a public apology to him in the local media, as he has suffered ‘’defamation of character” due to his wrongful detention by police. Joseph was one of the employees on duty in the Company’s Bauxite laboratory, when a lone gunman entered and escaped with four ‘instruments’’ critical to the Company’s operations, on January 10 last.
“Right now there are persons that are looking at me differently since this incident- and the hurtful part is I’m innocent. People that know me and my family would tell you that I’m not that kind of individual, who would do such a thing. But there are persons that don’t really know me, and that is where the speculation would start. So I’m demanding that Bosai apologize to me through the public media because I’m innocent.”
Joseph, who is on leave at present, is also asking that upon resumption of duties he be transferred to another area, as he feels very unsafe at his present location.
“Where I currently work, there are items that cost a lot of money, and the security there is not what it should be, so I’m asking to be transferred, because I fear for my life.”
Joseph pointed out that in 2009 Crucibles were also stolen from the laboratory, so last week’s incident was not an isolated case.
In reflecting on the latest incident he noted, “I was at work that night, and I was in the process of recording an LOI (loss on ignition) when I felt a weight standing over me, I turned around, but the person, ran off, so I thought it was one of my colleagues playing a prank on me, but the Foreman who was also there decided to alert other workers and call security, because she said that it was an intruder.”
Joseph said that he then decided to pursue the person, but turned back after the individual turned around and cranked his gun.
The intruder then made good his escape, while security personnel and other employees tried to locate him, Joseph related. Their efforts however proved futile.
The police were also called in and Joseph along with a colleague, Michael Hugh, who was on duty with him, was taken to the Mackenzie Police Station for questioning.
According to Joseph they were initially made to sit on the bench, but were later taken into custody.
Hugh was however released the very afternoon, (Monday), while Joseph was detained until the following evening.
Joseph describes his detention at the Mackenzie Police station, as the worst experience of his life.
“That place is filthy and not fit for any human being. I was placed in a cell with criminals – I was fearful for my life.”
His release on Tuesday night was most welcome, but the trauma of enduring a dirty, roach infested cell for two days, is still on Joseph’s mind.
Protest
Subsequent to their colleagues’ detention, employees of the Technical Services Laboratory, at the Bosai bauxite Plant, walked off the job on the night of January 12, 2015 in protest, according to a Bosai press release.
The workers also complained of feeling unsafe at work during the night shift, the release added.
This development, the release further stated, stemmed from an incident which occurred at about 04:45 hours on Saturday January 10, 2015, where an unidentified person gained access to a secured area of the Technical Services Laboratory and carted off Crucibles valued at over $2 million.
“The incident occurred in the presence of employees who were on duty in the lab at the time. Bosai Security and the Guyana Police Force were immediately summoned to the scene, and commenced investigations into the matter.”
“It was alleged that an unidentified individual breached the company’s security, and illegally entered the lab area through a ventilation shaft and unlawfully removed the Crucibles that are critical to the Company’s Operations. The Crucibles are extremely essential for Bauxite Quality Control.
Bosai Security and the Guyana Police Force were immediately summoned to the scene and are currently conducting investigations into the matter since the intruder managed to escape with the Crucibles,” the release said.
An employee who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, said that he found it very disturbing that the company was only ‘focused’ on the loss that  had been  incurred, and no thought was given to the fact that another employee could have been killed in the process of the robbery.
Forty -five year old Edgar Trotman, who worked as an excavator operator with Bosai, was found dead on December 3 with his hands bound behind his back. He was the father of six.
The man’s body was discovered by his colleagues who had turned out for the morning shift, a short distance away from the excavator he had been operating
Trotman had been working the night shift, and it was to be his last night before his shift changed.

 (Enid Joaquin)

---

---