Deadly piracy attack…Surviving captain fears for his life

Jul 05, 2018 News

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Months after the deadly attack at sea when four boats were invaded by men armed with cutlasses and guns, one of the surviving fishermen who were savagely attacked, fears for his life.
Still tortured by the memories of that fateful night when his fellow fishing buddies were murdered while they were fast asleep, Daramdeo Persaud called ‘Archibald’, 52, also claimed that he returned to Guyana some six weeks ago, and no one from the Ministry of Public Security or the Guyana government has reached out to him to offer any assistance.
Persaud, whose left arm is still in a cast and his right hand barely showing mobility, said that he is now fearful for his life and has been in hiding since he spoke with authorities in Suriname because no sort of security measures were put in place by anyone to keep him safe.
”I am scared that dem can set anybody fuh kill me. I tell the police over there (Suriname) that they ask me so much question and me answer… but if dem kill me now? The policeman seh all of dem get catch and dem got dem under control and nobody can do me nothing”, the injured man said.
He claims that a few police in Guyana are aware that he is in the country, but no one has reached out to him. He was also hospitalised at the New Amsterdam Hospital for two weeks after he returned. The survivor is asking that some sort of security be provided to him so that he may live a normal life without fear.

NO ASSISTANCE

Meanwhile, while many relatives of the murdered fishermen have received their $100,000 monetary assistance from the Ministry of Public Security, Persaud says he is yet to receive anything whatsoever. According to him, on the day of the attack he sustained chop wounds to both of his arms which left him partially handicapped, and since then he cannot work as normal.
”I got three chops to one hand and I am not feeling anything really in the other. I was trying to work a honest job and fish and smoke the fish and sell it, but now I can’t do it anymore because of my hands that get chop up”, he added.
While stressing that “all me know is fishing work”, Persaud explained that he just does not have the strength to continue fishing as a job. He noted that it is the help of his brother’s that has been keeping him alive and well.
Persaud is hoping that the government or the relevant ministry could assist in getting a small business on track to “help maintain myself”. Although he was not one of the beneficiaries of the monetary assistance provided by the Public Security Ministry, he mentioned that he is unaware if his wife and four children who live in Guyana, but not with him, would have received anything.
”Me na know if dem get anything but me na get nothing. All I want is some help to start a lil business or something that can get me on my feet”, Persaud appealed. According to him, his wife does not help him much, and has opted to distance herself from him since the incident.

RESTLESS NIGHTS

The 52-year-old man said it has not been smooth sailing since that day (April 19th), he added that many nights his sisters-in-law would awaken him because of his screams in his sleep.
”When I sleeping I hollering in the nights. I hollering ‘don’t chop me, don’t chop, leave me’.

Persaud who was on the ‘Rosey’ fishing vessel with his other fishing buddies, ‘Spanish man’, ‘Bandara’, ‘Bora’ and ‘Burnham’ said that none of his fellow fishermen on his boat survived from the unexpected and deadly attack. They were chopped about their bodies, he recounted, and an anchor was tied around his neck.
“We were sleeping in the cabin and these men come an attack us. ‘Spanish man’ dead pon meh lap after dem man chop he up and me just tek me hand and close he eyes and seh ‘rest meh brother Spanish’. Dem just deh chopping everybody and telling we don’t beg that dem come to kill we,” Persaud painfully recounted.
He revealed that after the assailants tied the anchor around his neck they threw him overboard but he managed to “duck and keep a distance” until they left. The next morning, a boat that was passing saw him and rescued him from the crisp, cold waters that left him numb. Two crew members were already dead on the boat while his captain had his arm severed, “dem na survive, only me survive”.
Kaieteur News has since learnt from the Prime Minister’s representative in Berbice, Gobin Harbhajan, that a detective from the Guyana Police Force, Major Crimes Unit was contacted and was made aware that Persaud had visited his office. Harabhajan also confirmed that he made contact with the Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, and he was briefed on the issue.

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