Assistance to be rendered to families of murdered fishermen
- Minister Persaud meets relatives
Georgetown, GINA, November 09, 2007.
Government will render necessary assistance to vulnerable families of the murdered fishermen who have supposedly fallen victims of a brutal pirate attack while efforts are being made to locate the remaining crew members of the fishing vessel that went missing several weeks ago.
The six-man crew, which left for a fishing trip earlier last month included Christopher Rooplall, Rameshwar Gagadin, his brother Navendra Gagadin, the boat captain Patrick Parboo, his cousin Davendra Persaud and Mark Parsaram alias ‘Buddy.’
Two weeks ago, sections of the media reported that two bound bodies of foreign decent had washed-up on the Corentyne Coast, however, these were later identified as two of the fishing crew while another was discovered yesterday, also on the Corentyne shore.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud today visited the victims’ families at Marshon, Annandale and Good Hope, East Coast Demerara where he assured that assistance will be rendered using resources from the fund that was set up by Government to aid piracy victims.
Although the fund was intended to help fishermen, who have been affected by piracy to support their livelihood and possible return to sea, an exception will be made in this instance.
Families of the two fishermen whose bodies were found earlier and which were buried in Region Six, requested ownership and assistance to have the bodies exhumed and transported for proper burial. They were told that a meeting will be held with officials of the Home Affairs Ministry and Guyana Police Force (GPF) to discuss these arrangements and other matters relating to the fishing crew.
They were also told that a search mission will be launched tomorrow to locate the other crew members who are still missing and members of the families will be asked to volunteer to help with identification.
One of the critical issues, the Minister pointed out, is location of the vessel and engine, which will be very useful in helping to track the criminals. Efforts are being made by the Police to find the vessel while neighbouring states such as Suriname and Venezuela have been alerted to the situation.
The Minister also updated the families on measures being implemented by Government to tackle piracy including establishment of a communication system being built by the Army.
The system has already been designed and will include a Global Positioning System (GPS) that will help the response unit to identify the location of a vessel that is indicating a distress signal. Owners of fishing vessels, operators and fishermen will be required to ‘buy-into’ the system, which may require them to purchase necessary equipment to install in their vessels.
Additionally, a law is being established to make piracy a non-bailable offence and equal to murder. Government has received arguments that this action is too severe but, according to Minister Persaud, the current incident is evidence of the seriousness of piracy since murder is clear.
The families agreed with the Minister and called upon Government to ensure that the person(s) who committed the crime are apprehended and face the full brunt of the new law. Some members even called for the death sentence if anyone is found guilty of the offence.
Another measure to tackle piracy is arming fishermen to ensure they have some form of defence while at sea. This arrangement is being offered to groups or the various fisheries cooperatives society. To date, only 15 names have been submitted for the arrangement since it was announced to the public.
Piracy, is one of the most serious challenge facing marine fishing around the world and in Guyana, Government is making necessary investments to help tackle the situation.
more bulletins
