Plea of help from Corentyne fishermen

Jul 23, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor
Please grant me space in your newspaper to publish this open letter from the CARRIBBEAN NETWORK OF FISHERFOLK ORGANISATION, the GUYANA NATIONAL FISHERFOLK ORGANISATION and the SURINAME FISHERFOLK ORGANISATION. We the fishers from Guyana and Suriname have been the most affected by these pirate attacks. Two months ago four fishermen from the Upper Corentyne Fishermen’s Co-op in Berbice were thrown overboard by pirates and left to die. They were from the same Berbice area. One body was found and he was given a decent funeral; the other three fishermen’s bodies were not found.
According to the confessions, they anchored the bodies. The loved ones and relatives of these could not even do a proper burial for them. When the relatives of one of the men was asked if they had received assistance from the NIS to which he had been making contributions, they said NIS required a death certificate. His body was not found so there can be no death certificate. Mr Editor, we the fishers from Guyana and Suriname are the only ones that are robbed, beaten and killed by pirates. It does not happen in other Caricom countries. We do not know what to do or who to ask for help. Many promises are made but nothing much is done. On Monday 18th July, a fisherman in Suriname was tied to a car battery and thrown overboard by pirates. When will this madness and cruelty stop.
Pamashwar Jainarine

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