4 firemen to be charged for stealing from crashed plane

Four of the 12 firemen who are accused of stealing the personal belongings of crew members and passengers from the Fly Jamaica aircraft which crash-landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) over two weeks ago, are to be charged and placed before the courts for the crime.

This is according to Guyana Police Force (GPF) Public Relations Officer (PRO) Jairam Ramlakhan.
“Please be advised that legal advice has been obtained to the effect that four of the implicated firemen be charged criminally,” Ramlakhan said on Tuesday.
Based on advice from the Force’s Legal Advisor, Justice Claudette Singh, one of the firemen will be charged with simple larceny, while the other three will face charges to the effect of “having under their control articles reasonably suspected to have been stolen”.
The four firemen are likely to appear in court soon.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was the first responder to the November 9, 2018 crash site when the Fly Jamaica plane crashed during an emergency landing less than an hour after taking off for Toronto, Canada, due to technical complications.
The incident occurred around 02:45h and later that day, several crew members and passengers complained of missing belongings. Several firefighters were later implicated in the act of theft, which has been described as an embarrassment by many, since they had exclusive access to the crashed plane.
It was reported that one of the firemen had reportedly returned some of the stolen items while some were found at the Timehri Fire Service. The following morning the matter was reported to the Police.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle subsequently confirmed that the dozen firemen were suspended from duties pending investigations by the Police. In the meantime, the Fire Service had also held an independent inquiry into the theft allegations.
Justice Singh had ordered Police investigators to carry out further work before advising on a way forward.
Meanwhile, at the recently-concluded International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Air Transport Conference held in Guyana over a five-day period.
Several ranks of the Police Force’s Steel Orchestra were also implicated in stealing some model planes.
It was reported that eight ranks were placed under close arrest and were being questioned on the theft of the items that were exhibits at a cocktail reception held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
According to the Force’s PRO, the case file into this incident is still with the Police Legal Advisor.