Should ministers also declare their assets?
Stabroek News letter. Thursday 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2609
Dear Editor,
President Jagdeo has spoken several times about the Fidelity-GRA fraud.
SN April 28, 2008 reported “At his press conference President Jagdeo had also referred to “Civil Servants” whom he said were worth several hundred times their known income and had said that the probe will include investigations into their assets.”
Would President Jagdeo and members of his cabinet publish their own financial records including their assets, to put the public at ease? Some have acquired substantial homes apparently beyond the reach of their earnings.
Is President Jagdeo willing to explain former members of his cabinet’s close relationship with Mr Shafeek and the latter’s colleague Dr Sukdeo involved in the multi million Sacred Heart church scam?
Shouldn’t there be a full up to date report on the loan to Buddy’s hotel and the amount repaid.
Yours faithfully,
A Persaud
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Workers expectations frustrated since 1992
Workers expectations frustrated since 1992– GPSU
Stabroek News news item. Thursday 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2642
The GPSU says workers’ reasonable expectations for improvements in their quality of life have been frustrated, if not shattered, and it hopes that a united Trade Union Movement can face these adversities.
Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) President Patrick Yarde made these statements in his Labour Day message.
In a press release, Yarde said increasingly “persons are driven into poverty and penury with depressing numbers experiencing deterioration in health, and are victims of criminal conduct.”
He said despair pervades the society to such an extent that there are significant incidents of suicide among the populace.
Also, “Hard-won labour rights achieved through great sacrifice, determination and unselfish effort by generations of workers are eroded including, but not limited to, matters of security of tenure, due process and entitlements to earned benefits,” he said.
Yarde also said that “Since 1992, there has been an ongoing struggle to protect members from arbitrary dismissals and acts of discrimination and victimization.” He said this has been happening at the Customs and Trade Administration – Guyana Revenue Authority, where persons employed in the public service are intimidated, discouraged from joining the union and suffer other forms of victimization.
Yarde said the GPSU hopes that by next May Day there would be a united labour movement that would inure not only to the benefit of workers but the entire country.
He charged that sections of the movement were in “collusion with the government in the promotion of their selfish desires and interests, and their desertion of the working class in their struggle to improve, preserve and safeguard their rights”.
“Our experiences have shown that we have the potential, and our representation could be successful, where members of the [GPSU] are united in the face of adversity.”
Yarde also criticized the courts. “The courts, in particular, have proved innocuous in the protection of the fundamental rights of workers even in the face of open violation of such rights by public agencies”.
Stabroek News news item. Thursday 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2642
The GPSU says workers’ reasonable expectations for improvements in their quality of life have been frustrated, if not shattered, and it hopes that a united Trade Union Movement can face these adversities.
Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) President Patrick Yarde made these statements in his Labour Day message.
In a press release, Yarde said increasingly “persons are driven into poverty and penury with depressing numbers experiencing deterioration in health, and are victims of criminal conduct.”
He said despair pervades the society to such an extent that there are significant incidents of suicide among the populace.
Also, “Hard-won labour rights achieved through great sacrifice, determination and unselfish effort by generations of workers are eroded including, but not limited to, matters of security of tenure, due process and entitlements to earned benefits,” he said.
Yarde also said that “Since 1992, there has been an ongoing struggle to protect members from arbitrary dismissals and acts of discrimination and victimization.” He said this has been happening at the Customs and Trade Administration – Guyana Revenue Authority, where persons employed in the public service are intimidated, discouraged from joining the union and suffer other forms of victimization.
Yarde said the GPSU hopes that by next May Day there would be a united labour movement that would inure not only to the benefit of workers but the entire country.
He charged that sections of the movement were in “collusion with the government in the promotion of their selfish desires and interests, and their desertion of the working class in their struggle to improve, preserve and safeguard their rights”.
“Our experiences have shown that we have the potential, and our representation could be successful, where members of the [GPSU] are united in the face of adversity.”
Yarde also criticized the courts. “The courts, in particular, have proved innocuous in the protection of the fundamental rights of workers even in the face of open violation of such rights by public agencies”.
Trafficking of Nigerians under scrutiny
Trafficking of Nigerians under scrutiny
Stabroek News news item. Wednesday 30 April 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2564
Immigration authorities here are to soon move against a ring involving the trafficking of Nigerians through Brazil, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee announced on Monday.
Rohee told reporters at a press conference on Monday that he was concerned over the presence of illegals particularly Nigerians who are entering the country from Brazil and Venezuela and he has vowed that the law enforcement authorities will break up the ring. “Let me emphasise that as was the case with the Chinese ring, the government will spare no effort in tracking down and breaking up any local ring that is engaged in encouraging this illegal activity,” Rohee declared.
Last year law enforcement officials smashed an illegal migration ring involving scores of Chinese nationals who were issued with false Guyana visas to come here and settle.
A number of the Chinese nationals were subsequently deported. Government last year set up a ministerial task force to bolster the campaign against Trafficking in Persons (TIP). Rohee announced that the task force had been very active since its establishment and will soon be releasing its first Report. The Ministerial task force is working with Food for the Poor, Help and Shelter, government and other non-governmental organizations to educate the population about TIP. In relation to the trafficking of Guyanese nationals, Rohee said, “We are pleased with the co-operation and collaboration developed with the authorities in Trinidad and Tobago in addressing allegations of human trafficking of Guyanese nationals through a Trinidad and Tobago/Guyana network.” He said Guyana would continue to work with all neighbouring countries to address this trans-national crime.
The TIP Unit of the Human Services Ministry had conducted several awareness campaigns countrywide, particularly focusing on Amerindian communities which have been identified as the most vulnerable.
A number of Volunteer Social Workers have been trained to handle TIP reported cases.
Stabroek News news item. Wednesday 30 April 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2564
Immigration authorities here are to soon move against a ring involving the trafficking of Nigerians through Brazil, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee announced on Monday.
Rohee told reporters at a press conference on Monday that he was concerned over the presence of illegals particularly Nigerians who are entering the country from Brazil and Venezuela and he has vowed that the law enforcement authorities will break up the ring. “Let me emphasise that as was the case with the Chinese ring, the government will spare no effort in tracking down and breaking up any local ring that is engaged in encouraging this illegal activity,” Rohee declared.
Last year law enforcement officials smashed an illegal migration ring involving scores of Chinese nationals who were issued with false Guyana visas to come here and settle.
A number of the Chinese nationals were subsequently deported. Government last year set up a ministerial task force to bolster the campaign against Trafficking in Persons (TIP). Rohee announced that the task force had been very active since its establishment and will soon be releasing its first Report. The Ministerial task force is working with Food for the Poor, Help and Shelter, government and other non-governmental organizations to educate the population about TIP. In relation to the trafficking of Guyanese nationals, Rohee said, “We are pleased with the co-operation and collaboration developed with the authorities in Trinidad and Tobago in addressing allegations of human trafficking of Guyanese nationals through a Trinidad and Tobago/Guyana network.” He said Guyana would continue to work with all neighbouring countries to address this trans-national crime.
The TIP Unit of the Human Services Ministry had conducted several awareness campaigns countrywide, particularly focusing on Amerindian communities which have been identified as the most vulnerable.
A number of Volunteer Social Workers have been trained to handle TIP reported cases.
Abduction turns murder? Relatives say son identified Kalamadeen’s body
Abduction turns murder? Relatives say son identified Kalamadeen’s body -DNA test to be done
Stabroek News news story. Thursday 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2618
After weeks of speculation, reports and arrests, missing Jiffi Lubes owner Farouk Kalamadeen was believed found dead this morning a stone’s throw away from the headquarters of the Guyana Police Force.
Jiffi Lubes tightly shut yesterday
Ironically, the body was found around the same time that the man disappeared exactly four weeks ago. His abduction and subsequent death raise serious questions about the police’s ability to solve these cases and whether Eve Leary had activated its anti-kidnapping squad.
“We are accepting that the body is his because his son has seen the body and knows his father,” Kalamadeen’s sister-in-law Bibi Shadick said this morning. However, she said relatives would ensure that DNA tests were done for confirmation. Shadick said the family was extremely busy and could not talk when Stabroek News made contact this morning, but she insisted that relatives had accepted that the body was Kalamadeen’s and had taken the word of his son who went to the scene when the discovery was made.
The discovery of the body was preceded by an attack on the East La Penitence Police Station last night. (See centre pages)
Two days after the businessman’s disappearance, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud when asked whether the police had activated its anti-kidnapping squad, said there was no need to do so as there was no certainty that Kalamadeen had been kidnapped. He later confirmed that the businessman was abducted and informed that he had been grabbed by men in a dark-coloured vehicle.
Kalamadeen was on one of his routine jogs around the Houston, East Bank Demerara area, on the morning of April 2 when he disappeared. Eyewitnesses reportedly told police that he was picked up by men in a dark-coloured vehicle.
The relatives of the 54-year-old former motor racer and the security forces had conducted numerous checks in and around the Houston neighbourhood, but other than apprehending a few suspects they had collected no substantial evidence. During several interviews with this newspaper, the businessman’s relatives had expressed optimism about his safe return.
Only last week Wednesday, a member of the Special Constabulary was among four persons arrested by the police during a search at a Princes Street house on Tuesday night in connection with Kalamadeen’s abduction. An unlicensed .32 pistol along with five matching rounds was also seized from the house, a police statement had said.
According to the statement, about 8:30 last Tuesday night, while conducting investigations into a report of abduction, ranks searched a house on Princes Street, Georgetown, where the weapon and ammunition were found. Four men were arrested.
Prior to last week, the police had arrested three men, but later released them.
Stabroek News had been told earlier that Kalamadeen had been abducted by foreigners with whom he had problems, but his wife, Nariman Kalamadeen, had said that was not so.
Kalamadeen left his D’Aguiar Park, East Bank Demerara home around 6 am on April 2 to go on his daily jog. He was last seen wearing a blue sweat suit, track boots and a cap. Family members said they had checked every corner in the Houston, Mandela Avenue area and interviewed almost all the security guards in the block but no one had a clue as to where the former motor racer might be.
Mrs. Kalamadeen told this newspaper in an interview on April 3 that it was clear her husband was being held against his will, but for reasons she did not know.
The businessman’s wife said that when he had left his home that morning he did not have his cellular phone with him but this was not strange, as he did not usually carry it when exercising. She said it normally took him 30 minutes to complete his exercise.
Mrs Kalamadeen said then that from all appearances her husband might have been snatched as soon as he exited the gated Barrington Place, D’Aguiar Park community, noting that none of the security guards along the route he walked every day had seen him that morning.
Two weeks ago, Shadick had told this newspaper that the people who were holding him were confused. She asserted that relatives were not giving up hope. Shadick also had said that in Guyana whenever someone wanted to kill you they would do it. Reacting to reports that Kalamadeen might have been held over some transaction, Shadick, an attorney-at-law and member of parliament, said such rumours abounded but the man’s relatives had not given them any credence. She told this newspaper that they had received a telephone call from overseas where the caller informed them that an official working on behalf of the government said that Kalamadeen was being held by a local drug enforcement agency. Shadick said too that there had been rumours that he was being held by the US.
Stabroek News was told that Kalamadeen, apart from operating his automobile service centre, was also involved in gold mining. Back in 2002 at the height of the crime wave gunmen believed to have been the prison escapees had attempted to rob a house in Section ‘K’ Campbellville. Kalamadeen had told this newspaper that he responded to the attack. At the time, he was residing in the area.
Stabroek News news story. Thursday 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2618
After weeks of speculation, reports and arrests, missing Jiffi Lubes owner Farouk Kalamadeen was believed found dead this morning a stone’s throw away from the headquarters of the Guyana Police Force.
Jiffi Lubes tightly shut yesterday
Ironically, the body was found around the same time that the man disappeared exactly four weeks ago. His abduction and subsequent death raise serious questions about the police’s ability to solve these cases and whether Eve Leary had activated its anti-kidnapping squad.
“We are accepting that the body is his because his son has seen the body and knows his father,” Kalamadeen’s sister-in-law Bibi Shadick said this morning. However, she said relatives would ensure that DNA tests were done for confirmation. Shadick said the family was extremely busy and could not talk when Stabroek News made contact this morning, but she insisted that relatives had accepted that the body was Kalamadeen’s and had taken the word of his son who went to the scene when the discovery was made.
The discovery of the body was preceded by an attack on the East La Penitence Police Station last night. (See centre pages)
Two days after the businessman’s disappearance, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud when asked whether the police had activated its anti-kidnapping squad, said there was no need to do so as there was no certainty that Kalamadeen had been kidnapped. He later confirmed that the businessman was abducted and informed that he had been grabbed by men in a dark-coloured vehicle.
Kalamadeen was on one of his routine jogs around the Houston, East Bank Demerara area, on the morning of April 2 when he disappeared. Eyewitnesses reportedly told police that he was picked up by men in a dark-coloured vehicle.
The relatives of the 54-year-old former motor racer and the security forces had conducted numerous checks in and around the Houston neighbourhood, but other than apprehending a few suspects they had collected no substantial evidence. During several interviews with this newspaper, the businessman’s relatives had expressed optimism about his safe return.
Only last week Wednesday, a member of the Special Constabulary was among four persons arrested by the police during a search at a Princes Street house on Tuesday night in connection with Kalamadeen’s abduction. An unlicensed .32 pistol along with five matching rounds was also seized from the house, a police statement had said.
According to the statement, about 8:30 last Tuesday night, while conducting investigations into a report of abduction, ranks searched a house on Princes Street, Georgetown, where the weapon and ammunition were found. Four men were arrested.
Prior to last week, the police had arrested three men, but later released them.
Stabroek News had been told earlier that Kalamadeen had been abducted by foreigners with whom he had problems, but his wife, Nariman Kalamadeen, had said that was not so.
Kalamadeen left his D’Aguiar Park, East Bank Demerara home around 6 am on April 2 to go on his daily jog. He was last seen wearing a blue sweat suit, track boots and a cap. Family members said they had checked every corner in the Houston, Mandela Avenue area and interviewed almost all the security guards in the block but no one had a clue as to where the former motor racer might be.
Mrs. Kalamadeen told this newspaper in an interview on April 3 that it was clear her husband was being held against his will, but for reasons she did not know.
The businessman’s wife said that when he had left his home that morning he did not have his cellular phone with him but this was not strange, as he did not usually carry it when exercising. She said it normally took him 30 minutes to complete his exercise.
Mrs Kalamadeen said then that from all appearances her husband might have been snatched as soon as he exited the gated Barrington Place, D’Aguiar Park community, noting that none of the security guards along the route he walked every day had seen him that morning.
Two weeks ago, Shadick had told this newspaper that the people who were holding him were confused. She asserted that relatives were not giving up hope. Shadick also had said that in Guyana whenever someone wanted to kill you they would do it. Reacting to reports that Kalamadeen might have been held over some transaction, Shadick, an attorney-at-law and member of parliament, said such rumours abounded but the man’s relatives had not given them any credence. She told this newspaper that they had received a telephone call from overseas where the caller informed them that an official working on behalf of the government said that Kalamadeen was being held by a local drug enforcement agency. Shadick said too that there had been rumours that he was being held by the US.
Stabroek News was told that Kalamadeen, apart from operating his automobile service centre, was also involved in gold mining. Back in 2002 at the height of the crime wave gunmen believed to have been the prison escapees had attempted to rob a house in Section ‘K’ Campbellville. Kalamadeen had told this newspaper that he responded to the attack. At the time, he was residing in the area.
Headless body was found just off Camp St
Headless body was found just off Camp St
By Heppilena Ferguson
Stabroek News news item. 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2624
The partly nude and headless body suspected to be that of missing businessman Farouk Kalamadeen was discovered this morning on Cowan Street, Kingston, around 200 yards from Camp Street.
A search being conducted this morning in the Cowan Street trench for the head
The discovery was made by persons heading to work in the area sometime after 6 am and the police were notified; minutes later, they arrived on the scene. The body was clad in a pair of burgundy running shorts and according to investigators, may not have been there for too long. Kalamadeen had disappeared just after setting off for his routine jog.
It appeared that the head had been neatly and clinically severed. There was blood on the chest and parts of the arms, but the head was nowhere in sight. Significantly, there was no blood or any trace of it close to or around the body, which lay a few yards away from the nearby trench.
When this newspaper arrived on the scene, a police car parked conveniently to create a cordon was present and several onlookers were gathered at the scene. Police HQ Eve Leary is not far from where the body was discovered.
Within minutes of the discovery, members of the Police Special Branch arrived on the scene and the body was covered. Moments later, a back-up team of police investigators as well as relatives of the Jiffi Lubes owner, arrived on the scene and viewed the body.
A man, who told police he was Kalamadeen’s son, was seen conversing with investigators and answered several calls on his cellular phone. He declined to offer any comment to the media.
As several curious onlookers arrived on the scene around 7.15 am, Lyken Funeral Parlour workers arrived and removed the body. No relative or police rank was present at the parlour when this newspaper checked.
Police investigators remained on the scene and following brief consultation several officers started scouring around apparently for the head. Two divers were sent into the nearby trench and they searched for over half an hour.
Plastic bottles, several dry coconuts and a small blue bath towel were all they retrieved before they finally called off the search.
Residents occupying the Railway Embankment said they did not see or hear any strange sounds late last night or early this morning.
One woman who lives just opposite where the body was discovered told Stabroek News that she owns several dogs and they would alert her if there were any strangers around. She said she usually woke up at 6 each morning and did the same yesterday.
“I come outside and I see four men in all over black clothes standing at the end there and I say must be a dead dog because sometimes people thrown dead dog there . But then I hear them saying that is a body they find,” she said.
The woman said she did not see any vehicle or any thing strange.
Her neighbour said she too did not hear anything and only learnt that a body was there when she awoke this morning to see a group of persons assembled.
Since his disappearance, the man’s business place has never really been closed. However, the doors to the usually busy auto shop were shut tight this morning; several vehicles were lined up outside the shutters.
Two black flags hung on the eastern and western sides of the building and a few workers stood around. Queries by this newspaper revealed that staff were told that the owner’s body was found and that the business place would be closed until further notice.
Asked why the flags were being put up one employee told this newspaper “we boss man was killed and they found the body this morning.” The man said Kalamadeen’s son was convinced that the body was his father’s, even though police were unable to locate its head.
By Heppilena Ferguson
Stabroek News news item. 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2624
The partly nude and headless body suspected to be that of missing businessman Farouk Kalamadeen was discovered this morning on Cowan Street, Kingston, around 200 yards from Camp Street.
A search being conducted this morning in the Cowan Street trench for the head
The discovery was made by persons heading to work in the area sometime after 6 am and the police were notified; minutes later, they arrived on the scene. The body was clad in a pair of burgundy running shorts and according to investigators, may not have been there for too long. Kalamadeen had disappeared just after setting off for his routine jog.
It appeared that the head had been neatly and clinically severed. There was blood on the chest and parts of the arms, but the head was nowhere in sight. Significantly, there was no blood or any trace of it close to or around the body, which lay a few yards away from the nearby trench.
When this newspaper arrived on the scene, a police car parked conveniently to create a cordon was present and several onlookers were gathered at the scene. Police HQ Eve Leary is not far from where the body was discovered.
Within minutes of the discovery, members of the Police Special Branch arrived on the scene and the body was covered. Moments later, a back-up team of police investigators as well as relatives of the Jiffi Lubes owner, arrived on the scene and viewed the body.
A man, who told police he was Kalamadeen’s son, was seen conversing with investigators and answered several calls on his cellular phone. He declined to offer any comment to the media.
As several curious onlookers arrived on the scene around 7.15 am, Lyken Funeral Parlour workers arrived and removed the body. No relative or police rank was present at the parlour when this newspaper checked.
Police investigators remained on the scene and following brief consultation several officers started scouring around apparently for the head. Two divers were sent into the nearby trench and they searched for over half an hour.
Plastic bottles, several dry coconuts and a small blue bath towel were all they retrieved before they finally called off the search.
Residents occupying the Railway Embankment said they did not see or hear any strange sounds late last night or early this morning.
One woman who lives just opposite where the body was discovered told Stabroek News that she owns several dogs and they would alert her if there were any strangers around. She said she usually woke up at 6 each morning and did the same yesterday.
“I come outside and I see four men in all over black clothes standing at the end there and I say must be a dead dog because sometimes people thrown dead dog there . But then I hear them saying that is a body they find,” she said.
The woman said she did not see any vehicle or any thing strange.
Her neighbour said she too did not hear anything and only learnt that a body was there when she awoke this morning to see a group of persons assembled.
Since his disappearance, the man’s business place has never really been closed. However, the doors to the usually busy auto shop were shut tight this morning; several vehicles were lined up outside the shutters.
Two black flags hung on the eastern and western sides of the building and a few workers stood around. Queries by this newspaper revealed that staff were told that the owner’s body was found and that the business place would be closed until further notice.
Asked why the flags were being put up one employee told this newspaper “we boss man was killed and they found the body this morning.” The man said Kalamadeen’s son was convinced that the body was his father’s, even though police were unable to locate its head.
Station fusillade shows terrorists back - Rohee
Station fusillade shows terrorists back - Rohee
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News news item. Thursday 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2647
Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee says that the country’s lawmen had to take the fight to the criminals noting that the assault on the East La Penitence police station on Tuesday night shows that the armed gangs have resurfaced with a plan to create terror and instability.
The gates to the East La Penitence Police Station closed yesterday morning following last night’s strafing.
He said the nation’s security forces could not afford to be complacent at this time, urging the lawmen to go on the offensive and not the defensive. “It is clear that the criminals have resurfaced with a plan to send certain signals and we have to be more on the offensive,” Rohee said in an invited comment last evening. He told Stabroek News that it was clear that police stations are now targets for armed gangs and criminal elements. “Since that is so the police have to do more to protect life and property at all stations. A more offensive and aggressive posture has to be adopted because this is not the time to be complacent and defensive,” Rohee declared.
He noted that co-incidentally the attack on Tuesday night fits in with a plan advocated by some to create instability and discomfort in society, making reference to the PNCR’s stated plan to make the Caribbean Festival of Arts unmanageable if certain things did not change. “We will go all out to thwart the efforts whether politically or militarily combined or otherwise of those who have intentions to disrupt the peace and good order,” Rohee asserted. Asked whether the security at police stations were adequate for police ranks, Rohee acknowledged that more could be done and more should be done.
Commander of ‘A’ Division, Assistant Commissioner, Welton Trotz told Stabroek News that ranks were on duty at the station when gunfire rang out. He said the policemen took evasive action and at the same time alerted other ranks who responded, but by that time the gunmen had already disappeared. Trotz said that checks downstairs of the two-storey building revealed broken glass windows and warheads. According to the police officer the western and southern parts of the building were riddled with bullets. Trotz confirmed that investigators collected spent shells on the road as well as in the compound of the station. Asked about the motive of the criminals, Trotz said he had no idea, but assured that a thorough investigation was being conducted.
In a statement late last evening the police said that 23 7.62 x 39 spent shells were recovered from the scene. According to the police statement about 11:45 on Tuesday night armed men in a motor vehicle drove along Arapaima Street and discharged rounds at the East La Penitence Police Station, damaging three glass windows on the lower flat and the walls on the western and southern side of the upper flat of the building. No rank was injured in the attack. The statement said that ranks on duty said that the attack took place very quickly and by the time they had taken cover with a view to responding, the firing had stopped. They could not say by what means the attack had taken place and no information was immediately available in relation to the mode of the attack and the perpetrators, the police statement said. It added that several police patrols responded and after diligent enquiries they were able to ascertain some time later that the station was attacked by persons in a motor vehicle. “The informants had conflicting information on the type and colour of the vehicle,” the statement added.
Gunmen rained bullets on the police station located on Mandela Avenue, destroying several glass windows and leaving police ranks scampering for cover. Hours after the shooting the decapitated body of missing businessman Farouk Kalamadeen was discovered in Kingston – in the same ward as the Police HQ. The attack on the station appeared to be another case of diverting the police’s attention while, in this case, the dumping of the headless body occurred.
When Stabroek News visited the station yesterday morning, several police officers were there, but were unwilling to speak about the incident. A taxi driver told this newspaper that he was on Mandela Avenue in that area, when he heard rapid gunfire. The taxi driver, who asked not to be named, said he and several of his colleagues from the same service immediately came off the road. He said he was not certain where the gunfire was coming from and could not imagine it was an attack on the police station. A security guard at a building next door to the station said she was in the guard hut when she heard the gunshots and fearing for her life, she stayed in. “I ain’t going out there to see anything,” the guard commented.
She said when the shooting subsided and she went outside to have a look, she saw some police officers frantically looking around. Stabroek News could not ascertain whether the police had responded to the gunfire.
Over the years, gunmen have routinely targeted police stations on their way to committing atrocities, as happened in the January and February slaughters at Lusignan and Bartica. Gunmen operating out of Buxton have also targeted the Vigilance Police Station in the past. Back in January, in one of the most brazen attacks in recent history, gunmen blasted three policemen manning the western gate at the Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, hitting two in their legs and leaving the force scrambling to protect its base. Shortly afterwards, gunmen stormed Lusignan killing 11 people including five children.
Since then police have maintained a cordon around the Eve Leary headquarters and had also erected barriers on Brickdam.
Police had believed the attack was the work of the country’s most wanted man, Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins who was said to have upped the ante against the security forces following the alleged abduction of his girlfriend, Tenisha Morgan. A man purporting to be Rawlins had contacted Criminal Inves-tigation Department headquarters one day before the attack at Eve Leary warning officers there that if his girlfriend was not returned he would create mayhem.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, had said then that the carload of gunmen pulled up at the corner of Parade and Young streets, Eve Leary in front of the canon at the TSU base. He said the men stopped their vehicle and fired several shots, hitting two policemen, who were keeping the company of the sentry at the time. The gunmen’s assault also saw bullets drilling several holes in the wall of the fence. Greene said the gunmen escaped along Carifesta Avenue. Police had recovered several 5.56 rounds which are used in M-16 rifles.
The gunmen who murdered the 12 people in Bartica on February 17 had also used a similar tactic: attacking the police station there first. Using speedboats, around 20 gunmen stormed the township of Bartica, located some 80 miles from Georgetown on the night of February 17. They overran the police station and murdered three policemen and then nine civilians. The gunmen first attacked the station killing the three officers and seriously wounding two others. They then carted off several firearms and ammunition from two strong boxes. Days after the attack, Greene had told reporters that the policemen were not alert enough and as such, he encouraged his charges to be more vigilant.
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News news item. Thursday 1 May 2008
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2647
Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee says that the country’s lawmen had to take the fight to the criminals noting that the assault on the East La Penitence police station on Tuesday night shows that the armed gangs have resurfaced with a plan to create terror and instability.
The gates to the East La Penitence Police Station closed yesterday morning following last night’s strafing.
He said the nation’s security forces could not afford to be complacent at this time, urging the lawmen to go on the offensive and not the defensive. “It is clear that the criminals have resurfaced with a plan to send certain signals and we have to be more on the offensive,” Rohee said in an invited comment last evening. He told Stabroek News that it was clear that police stations are now targets for armed gangs and criminal elements. “Since that is so the police have to do more to protect life and property at all stations. A more offensive and aggressive posture has to be adopted because this is not the time to be complacent and defensive,” Rohee declared.
He noted that co-incidentally the attack on Tuesday night fits in with a plan advocated by some to create instability and discomfort in society, making reference to the PNCR’s stated plan to make the Caribbean Festival of Arts unmanageable if certain things did not change. “We will go all out to thwart the efforts whether politically or militarily combined or otherwise of those who have intentions to disrupt the peace and good order,” Rohee asserted. Asked whether the security at police stations were adequate for police ranks, Rohee acknowledged that more could be done and more should be done.
Commander of ‘A’ Division, Assistant Commissioner, Welton Trotz told Stabroek News that ranks were on duty at the station when gunfire rang out. He said the policemen took evasive action and at the same time alerted other ranks who responded, but by that time the gunmen had already disappeared. Trotz said that checks downstairs of the two-storey building revealed broken glass windows and warheads. According to the police officer the western and southern parts of the building were riddled with bullets. Trotz confirmed that investigators collected spent shells on the road as well as in the compound of the station. Asked about the motive of the criminals, Trotz said he had no idea, but assured that a thorough investigation was being conducted.
In a statement late last evening the police said that 23 7.62 x 39 spent shells were recovered from the scene. According to the police statement about 11:45 on Tuesday night armed men in a motor vehicle drove along Arapaima Street and discharged rounds at the East La Penitence Police Station, damaging three glass windows on the lower flat and the walls on the western and southern side of the upper flat of the building. No rank was injured in the attack. The statement said that ranks on duty said that the attack took place very quickly and by the time they had taken cover with a view to responding, the firing had stopped. They could not say by what means the attack had taken place and no information was immediately available in relation to the mode of the attack and the perpetrators, the police statement said. It added that several police patrols responded and after diligent enquiries they were able to ascertain some time later that the station was attacked by persons in a motor vehicle. “The informants had conflicting information on the type and colour of the vehicle,” the statement added.
Gunmen rained bullets on the police station located on Mandela Avenue, destroying several glass windows and leaving police ranks scampering for cover. Hours after the shooting the decapitated body of missing businessman Farouk Kalamadeen was discovered in Kingston – in the same ward as the Police HQ. The attack on the station appeared to be another case of diverting the police’s attention while, in this case, the dumping of the headless body occurred.
When Stabroek News visited the station yesterday morning, several police officers were there, but were unwilling to speak about the incident. A taxi driver told this newspaper that he was on Mandela Avenue in that area, when he heard rapid gunfire. The taxi driver, who asked not to be named, said he and several of his colleagues from the same service immediately came off the road. He said he was not certain where the gunfire was coming from and could not imagine it was an attack on the police station. A security guard at a building next door to the station said she was in the guard hut when she heard the gunshots and fearing for her life, she stayed in. “I ain’t going out there to see anything,” the guard commented.
She said when the shooting subsided and she went outside to have a look, she saw some police officers frantically looking around. Stabroek News could not ascertain whether the police had responded to the gunfire.
Over the years, gunmen have routinely targeted police stations on their way to committing atrocities, as happened in the January and February slaughters at Lusignan and Bartica. Gunmen operating out of Buxton have also targeted the Vigilance Police Station in the past. Back in January, in one of the most brazen attacks in recent history, gunmen blasted three policemen manning the western gate at the Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, hitting two in their legs and leaving the force scrambling to protect its base. Shortly afterwards, gunmen stormed Lusignan killing 11 people including five children.
Since then police have maintained a cordon around the Eve Leary headquarters and had also erected barriers on Brickdam.
Police had believed the attack was the work of the country’s most wanted man, Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins who was said to have upped the ante against the security forces following the alleged abduction of his girlfriend, Tenisha Morgan. A man purporting to be Rawlins had contacted Criminal Inves-tigation Department headquarters one day before the attack at Eve Leary warning officers there that if his girlfriend was not returned he would create mayhem.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, had said then that the carload of gunmen pulled up at the corner of Parade and Young streets, Eve Leary in front of the canon at the TSU base. He said the men stopped their vehicle and fired several shots, hitting two policemen, who were keeping the company of the sentry at the time. The gunmen’s assault also saw bullets drilling several holes in the wall of the fence. Greene said the gunmen escaped along Carifesta Avenue. Police had recovered several 5.56 rounds which are used in M-16 rifles.
The gunmen who murdered the 12 people in Bartica on February 17 had also used a similar tactic: attacking the police station there first. Using speedboats, around 20 gunmen stormed the township of Bartica, located some 80 miles from Georgetown on the night of February 17. They overran the police station and murdered three policemen and then nine civilians. The gunmen first attacked the station killing the three officers and seriously wounding two others. They then carted off several firearms and ammunition from two strong boxes. Days after the attack, Greene had told reporters that the policemen were not alert enough and as such, he encouraged his charges to be more vigilant.
Kalamadeen beheaded
Kalamadeen beheaded-police question four men
Stabroek News top story. Thursday 1 May 2008
By Nigel Williams and Heppilena Ferguson
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2649
Police up to late yesterday were questioning four men in connection with the abduction and slaying of city businessman, Farouk Kalamadeen whose headless body was found near a trench in Kingston early yesterday morning.
Jiffi Lubes shut tight yesterday
The men were called in for questioning by the police on claims that they knew about the businessman’s disappearance, a police source said last evening. It was not clear up to press time last night whether the men were still being questioned.
Family members yesterday placed a full-page announcement in today’s Stabroek News announcing the death of the Jiffi Lubes owner and details about his burial according to Muslim rites.
Kalamadeen disappeared while jogging on the Houston Public Road on April 2. He was not heard from since neither was there a ransom demand. In a terse statement issued late last evening the police said that the headless body of a man was found on Cowan Street, Kingston. The body was clad in a red jersey and black pants and was barefooted, the police release said. “By its general appearance, the body was later identified to be that of Farouk Kalamadeen by his son Irfan Kalamadeen,” the release added. Asked for a comment on the discovery, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said that it was very unfortunate. He however declined to comment further, noting that he had not received a full report from the police on the matter as yet.
A search conducted yesterday morning in the Cowan Street trench for the head
Kalamadeen’s headless body was discovered on Cowan Street, Kingston, around 200 yards from Camp Street. The discovery was made by persons heading to work in the area sometime after 6 am and the police were notified; minutes later, they arrived on the scene. The body was clad in a pair of burgundy running shorts and according to investigators, may not have been there for long as it had what appeared to be fresh blood on his chest. It appeared that the man’s head, which had not been located up to press time last night, had been neatly and clinically severed. Signifi-cantly, there was no blood or any trace of it close to or around the body, which lay a few yards away from the nearby trench, indicating that Kalamadeen was killed somewhere else and his body dumped in the area.
When this newspaper arrived on the scene, a police car parked conveniently to create a cordon was present and several onlookers were gathered at the scene.
Minutes after the discovery, relatives of the Jiffi Lubes owner arrived on the scene and viewed the body. Residents occupying the Railway Embankment said they did not see or hear any strange sounds late Tuesday night or early yesterday morning.
One woman who lives just opposite where the body was discovered told Stabroek News that she owns several dogs and they would alert her if there were any strangers around. She said she usually woke up at 6 each morning and did the same yesterday.
“I come outside and I see four men in all over black clothes standing at the end there and I say must be a dead dog because sometimes people throw dead dogs there. But then I hear them saying that is a body they find,” she said. The woman said she did not see any vehicle or anything strange.
Her neighbour said she too did not hear anything and only learnt that a body was there when she awoke this morning to see a group of persons assembled.
Since his disappearance, the man’s business place has never really been closed. However, the doors to the usually busy auto shop were shut tight yesterday morning; several vehicles were lined up outside the shutters.
Two black flags hung on the eastern and western sides of the building and a few workers stood around. Queries by this newspaper revealed that staffers were told that the owner’s body was found and that the business place would be closed until further notice.
Anti-kidnapping squad
Yesterday’s discovery of the businessman’s body ended almost one month of speculation, reports and arrests. Ironically, the body was found around the same time that the man disappeared exactly four weeks ago.
His abduction and subsequent decapitation raise serious questions about the police’s ability to solve these cases and whether Eve Leary had activated its anti-kidnapping squad.
“We are accepting that the body is his because his son has seen the body and knows his father,” Kalamadeen’s sister-in-law Bibi Shadick said yesterday morning. However, she said relatives would ensure that DNA tests were done for confirmation.
The discovery of the body was preceded by an attack on the East La Penitence Police Station on Tuesday night. Two days after the businessman’s disappearance, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud when asked whether the police had activated its anti-kidnapping squad, said there was no need to do so as there was no certainty that Kalamadeen had been kidnapped. He later confirmed that the businessman was abducted. Eyewitnesses reportedly told police that he was picked up by men in a dark-coloured vehicle. The relatives of the 54-year-old former motor racer and the security forces had conducted numerous checks in and around the Houston neighbourhood, but other than apprehending a few suspects they had collected no substantial evidence. During several interviews with this newspaper, the businessman’s relatives had expressed optimism about his safe return.
Meanwhile, only last week Wednesday, a member of the Special Constabulary was among four persons arrested by the police during a search at a Princes Street house on Tuesday night in connection with Kalamadeen’s abduction. An unlicensed .32 pistol and five matching rounds were also seized from the house, a police statement had said.
According to the statement, about 8:30 last Tuesday night, while conducting investigations into a report of abduction, ranks searched a house on Princes Street, Georgetown, where the weapon and ammunition were found. Four men were arrested.
Prior to last week, the police had arrested three men, but later released them.
Stabroek News had been told earlier that Kalamadeen had been abducted by foreigners with whom he had problems, but his wife, Nariman Kalamadeen, had said that was not so.
Kalamadeen left his D’Aguiar Park, East Bank Demerara home around 6 am on April 2 to go on his daily jog. He was last seen wearing a blue sweat suit, track boots and a cap. Family members said they had checked every corner in the Houston, Mandela Avenue area and interviewed almost all the security guards in the block but no one had a clue as to where the former motor racer might be.
Mrs. Kalamadeen told this newspaper in an interview on April 3 that it was clear her husband was being held against his will, but for reasons she did not know.
The businessman’s wife said that when he had left his home that morning he did not have his cellular phone with him but this was not strange, as he did not usually carry it when exercising.
She said it normally took him 30 minutes to complete his exercise.
Mrs Kalamadeen said then that from all appearances her husband might have been snatched as soon as he exited the gated Barrington Place, D’Aguiar Park community, noting that none of the security guards along the route he walked every day had seen him that morning.
Two weeks ago, Shadick had told this newspaper that the people who were holding him were confused. She asserted that relatives were not giving up hope. Shadick also had said that in Guyana whenever someone wanted to kill you they would do it. Reacting to reports that Kalamadeen might have been held over some transaction, Shadick, an attorney-at-law and member of parliament, said such rumours abounded but the man’s relatives had not given them any credence. She told this newspaper that they had received a telephone call from overseas where the caller informed them that an official working on behalf of the government said that Kalamadeen was being held by a local drug enforcement agency.
Shadick said too that there had been rumours that he was being held by the US.
Stabroek News was told that Kalamadeen, apart from operating his automobile service centre, was also involved in gold mining. Back in 2002 at the height of the crime wave gunmen believed to have been the prison escapees had attempted to rob a house in Section ‘K’ Campbellville. Kalamadeen had told this newspaper that he responded to the attack. At the time, he was residing in the area.
Stabroek News top story. Thursday 1 May 2008
By Nigel Williams and Heppilena Ferguson
http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=2649
Police up to late yesterday were questioning four men in connection with the abduction and slaying of city businessman, Farouk Kalamadeen whose headless body was found near a trench in Kingston early yesterday morning.
Jiffi Lubes shut tight yesterday
The men were called in for questioning by the police on claims that they knew about the businessman’s disappearance, a police source said last evening. It was not clear up to press time last night whether the men were still being questioned.
Family members yesterday placed a full-page announcement in today’s Stabroek News announcing the death of the Jiffi Lubes owner and details about his burial according to Muslim rites.
Kalamadeen disappeared while jogging on the Houston Public Road on April 2. He was not heard from since neither was there a ransom demand. In a terse statement issued late last evening the police said that the headless body of a man was found on Cowan Street, Kingston. The body was clad in a red jersey and black pants and was barefooted, the police release said. “By its general appearance, the body was later identified to be that of Farouk Kalamadeen by his son Irfan Kalamadeen,” the release added. Asked for a comment on the discovery, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said that it was very unfortunate. He however declined to comment further, noting that he had not received a full report from the police on the matter as yet.
A search conducted yesterday morning in the Cowan Street trench for the head
Kalamadeen’s headless body was discovered on Cowan Street, Kingston, around 200 yards from Camp Street. The discovery was made by persons heading to work in the area sometime after 6 am and the police were notified; minutes later, they arrived on the scene. The body was clad in a pair of burgundy running shorts and according to investigators, may not have been there for long as it had what appeared to be fresh blood on his chest. It appeared that the man’s head, which had not been located up to press time last night, had been neatly and clinically severed. Signifi-cantly, there was no blood or any trace of it close to or around the body, which lay a few yards away from the nearby trench, indicating that Kalamadeen was killed somewhere else and his body dumped in the area.
When this newspaper arrived on the scene, a police car parked conveniently to create a cordon was present and several onlookers were gathered at the scene.
Minutes after the discovery, relatives of the Jiffi Lubes owner arrived on the scene and viewed the body. Residents occupying the Railway Embankment said they did not see or hear any strange sounds late Tuesday night or early yesterday morning.
One woman who lives just opposite where the body was discovered told Stabroek News that she owns several dogs and they would alert her if there were any strangers around. She said she usually woke up at 6 each morning and did the same yesterday.
“I come outside and I see four men in all over black clothes standing at the end there and I say must be a dead dog because sometimes people throw dead dogs there. But then I hear them saying that is a body they find,” she said. The woman said she did not see any vehicle or anything strange.
Her neighbour said she too did not hear anything and only learnt that a body was there when she awoke this morning to see a group of persons assembled.
Since his disappearance, the man’s business place has never really been closed. However, the doors to the usually busy auto shop were shut tight yesterday morning; several vehicles were lined up outside the shutters.
Two black flags hung on the eastern and western sides of the building and a few workers stood around. Queries by this newspaper revealed that staffers were told that the owner’s body was found and that the business place would be closed until further notice.
Anti-kidnapping squad
Yesterday’s discovery of the businessman’s body ended almost one month of speculation, reports and arrests. Ironically, the body was found around the same time that the man disappeared exactly four weeks ago.
His abduction and subsequent decapitation raise serious questions about the police’s ability to solve these cases and whether Eve Leary had activated its anti-kidnapping squad.
“We are accepting that the body is his because his son has seen the body and knows his father,” Kalamadeen’s sister-in-law Bibi Shadick said yesterday morning. However, she said relatives would ensure that DNA tests were done for confirmation.
The discovery of the body was preceded by an attack on the East La Penitence Police Station on Tuesday night. Two days after the businessman’s disappearance, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud when asked whether the police had activated its anti-kidnapping squad, said there was no need to do so as there was no certainty that Kalamadeen had been kidnapped. He later confirmed that the businessman was abducted. Eyewitnesses reportedly told police that he was picked up by men in a dark-coloured vehicle. The relatives of the 54-year-old former motor racer and the security forces had conducted numerous checks in and around the Houston neighbourhood, but other than apprehending a few suspects they had collected no substantial evidence. During several interviews with this newspaper, the businessman’s relatives had expressed optimism about his safe return.
Meanwhile, only last week Wednesday, a member of the Special Constabulary was among four persons arrested by the police during a search at a Princes Street house on Tuesday night in connection with Kalamadeen’s abduction. An unlicensed .32 pistol and five matching rounds were also seized from the house, a police statement had said.
According to the statement, about 8:30 last Tuesday night, while conducting investigations into a report of abduction, ranks searched a house on Princes Street, Georgetown, where the weapon and ammunition were found. Four men were arrested.
Prior to last week, the police had arrested three men, but later released them.
Stabroek News had been told earlier that Kalamadeen had been abducted by foreigners with whom he had problems, but his wife, Nariman Kalamadeen, had said that was not so.
Kalamadeen left his D’Aguiar Park, East Bank Demerara home around 6 am on April 2 to go on his daily jog. He was last seen wearing a blue sweat suit, track boots and a cap. Family members said they had checked every corner in the Houston, Mandela Avenue area and interviewed almost all the security guards in the block but no one had a clue as to where the former motor racer might be.
Mrs. Kalamadeen told this newspaper in an interview on April 3 that it was clear her husband was being held against his will, but for reasons she did not know.
The businessman’s wife said that when he had left his home that morning he did not have his cellular phone with him but this was not strange, as he did not usually carry it when exercising.
She said it normally took him 30 minutes to complete his exercise.
Mrs Kalamadeen said then that from all appearances her husband might have been snatched as soon as he exited the gated Barrington Place, D’Aguiar Park community, noting that none of the security guards along the route he walked every day had seen him that morning.
Two weeks ago, Shadick had told this newspaper that the people who were holding him were confused. She asserted that relatives were not giving up hope. Shadick also had said that in Guyana whenever someone wanted to kill you they would do it. Reacting to reports that Kalamadeen might have been held over some transaction, Shadick, an attorney-at-law and member of parliament, said such rumours abounded but the man’s relatives had not given them any credence. She told this newspaper that they had received a telephone call from overseas where the caller informed them that an official working on behalf of the government said that Kalamadeen was being held by a local drug enforcement agency.
Shadick said too that there had been rumours that he was being held by the US.
Stabroek News was told that Kalamadeen, apart from operating his automobile service centre, was also involved in gold mining. Back in 2002 at the height of the crime wave gunmen believed to have been the prison escapees had attempted to rob a house in Section ‘K’ Campbellville. Kalamadeen had told this newspaper that he responded to the attack. At the time, he was residing in the area.
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