Fishermen demand more Coast Guard presence

May 19, 2017 News

In light of the recent pirate attack in Corentyne waters – which resulted in a fisherman being found dead along the Rose Hall foreshore – several of the fishermen are claiming that they receive very little assistance from the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guards.
According to the men, security in the waters has been non-existent. Permaul Samaroo, the owner of two fishing vessels, including the one that was attacked on Tuesday, told this publication that the Coast Guard patrolled the waters twice for the year and wasn’t even seen on the waters during last year.
“We are fishermen; we glad fuh get protection but there is no coast guard. Who you go talk to? We spoke to the chief of coast guard; we invited him to a meeting and we talk to he concerning this.
“They said yes they gon patrol the waters and provide assistance but nobody don’t do anything.”
Another irate fisherman, Doonauth Persaud, argued that it is always a royal run around when requesting assistance,
“You na get no response. When you go to the police and ask them to go out they don’t want to go they say go to the coast guard. When you call the coast guard dem ah tell you dem ah come out but dem never come. Two to three days does past and nobody don’t come, we have no protection out here; we got to fend for ourselves.”
The men stated that no authority made any effort to search for the missing fisherman when the incident occurred and they have not yet seen a coast guard since the incident. They are requesting on behalf of all the fishermen who have venture out on the waters to make a living for themselves, to be provided some sort of protection.
They would like to see increased patrols on the waters.
A 45-year-old fishing boat captain was killed following a brazen attack by pirates armed with cutlasses on Tuesday evening.
Dead is Mahadeo Ramdehol also known as ‘Chico’, of 146 Kilcoy Squatting Area.
Reports reaching this publication indicate that the captain and his two crew members were dumped overboard by two masked pirates in the Corentyne River, after the attackers had stolen their boat engine and the day’s catch.
The two crew members managed to swim to safety. However, the boat captain did not make it. His body was fished up at 16:10 hrs Wednesday along the Rose Hall Foreshore
The men were attacked approximately a mile away from the Tain Foreshore.

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