The Camp Street arson anniversary and Minister Ramjattan

Jul 09, 2018 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

The place was Julian’s Restaurant at Church and Cummings Street, Alberttown. The time was 8.00 p.m. last Saturday. The occasion was the 60th birthday of one of the Caribbean’s long serving journalists – the veteran and inimitable Bert Wilkinson.
I told Bert about twenty years ago that in my world view, the world has only produced two genuine Berts – Bert Wilkinson of Guyana and Burt Bacharach of the USA
He finds it amusing but I told him that last Saturday for the umpteenth time. I sat at the same table with the Deputy Editor of the Kaieteur News, Nigel McKenzie and the topic was negative things that set Guyana apart from the rest of the world. My contribution to the polemic was that I believe there is no other country in the world where a person charged for finding a spent shell on the roadway would be jailed for three years.
I also described for them the spent shells I see on the seawall when I am walking with my dog. Only in an asinine country like Guyana a spent shell is a dangerous weapon. But a spent shell is indeed a lethal weapon. I know a robber attacked a woman and robbed her after he showed her a spent shell and said he is going to shoot her with it if she didn’t give him her purse.
Now I understand why the man was jailed for three years. If you believe my story here you are just as stupid as some of our magistrates and leaders in government. At the table, I was reminded by Nigel that today is the anniversary of the Camp Street inferno. And I did tell him I was doing a column on the anniversary date.
The first thing all Guyanese should ask themselves – has the leadership of this nation learnt the lessons of the inferno? My answer is no; not a damn thing. But maybe there is hope around the corner when you read what Minister Khemraj Ramjattan wrote me about last Friday. Let me start from the beginning.
I received correspondence from a gentleman named Brian Backer, the head of an NGO whose acronym is EPIC (Enhance Potential to Inspire Change). I quote from his mail; “During a visit to the NA Prison today, I spoke with a young man whom I first met whilst he was at the Sophia Juvenile Holding Facility.
He is 17 years old, and was given a four year sentence for simple larceny of articles totaling $8,260.00 GYD. What makes this even more absurd is the fact that the cost to the citizenry to house and feed this youth for one week, exceeds the total amount he’s convicted of stealing.”
I circulated widely this mail by EPIC and received the following response from Minister Ramjattan which I have edited; “So obviously very harsh a penalty. Hate to see this happening to our young people. But it continues. The recently passed JJAct will make a difference, but the costing done recently by UNICEF to ensure a first phase operationalising will be around $500M.
“But compassion and a more lenient hand by the Magistrate here in this case could have saved the day for this youth. It is an unfair world. Depending on the circumstances, I can advise a pardon. Do you know his name? I can get it, but if you do that can help quicken the process.”
The lad’s name is Akash Pechari. The Magistrate is Caroline Artega of Berbice. Mr. Backer also told me he visited another teenager who is in jail. She was given 36 months sentence (which in legal, prison terms is longer than three years) for stealing $45, 000. Her name is Keysha Gibbs. The Magistrate is Rochelle Liverpool of Leonora court.
I wrote five columns after the July 9, 2017 Camp Street mayhem and in each of those commentaries, I opined that there is a connection between cruel, bestial jail time for minor crimes and prison revolts.
In one of those columns I specifically warned Minister Ramjattan that people will call for his resignation (as Chris Ram did) if prison rebellions continue and he, Ramjattan, and other leaders in government must speak out against harsh sentences by magistrates who are not intellectually equipped to understand the complex sociological nuances of this country.
So have we done the statistical analysis since last year? Are there teenagers still being jailed for minor offences and are we over-crowding the jails once more? You and I know the answer. Let’s end on a happy note. Bert had a swashbuckling birthday celebration. I never saw so much food at a birthday party.

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The Camp Street arson anniversary and Minister Ramjattan

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