Family, friends call for implementation of safety measures

18-year-old’s death at resort

Some seemingly upset family members and friends of the late 18-year-old Ronaldo Gomes, who was killed at a private resort on Tuesday last, have vented their concerns during a peaceful protest on Monday at the resort’s head office at High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown.

The young man was on July 14 found dead, with his face disfigured. The injuries were reportedly caused by a jet-ski with which he had come into contact while taking his ‘last dip’ before heading back to the city.
At the picket line, the group called for better life safety measures to be put into place at the resort, and for a thorough investigation to be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the demise of the young man.
United Bridge Builders Mission member and Women’s Rights Activist Benita Montague is of the view that the resort should be held accountable for Gomes’s death.
“We are now calling Guyana a tourism destination and we are inviting people to come. So, if we are going to be doing that, then we need to put security measures in place… There were no life guards (available) at the time of the incident. This is not the first or second time an incident like this occurred at the particular resort, and nothing has being done about it,” Montague said.
The objectives of the protest are to prevent the loss of another life, and for the management to implement safety measures at the resort, the group noted. If this cannot be done, they are urging the relevant authorities to close down the facility until the situation is corrected.
The devastated mother of the teenager, Paula Williams, related that since her son’s death, the resort proprietor has not given her a proper explanation about what had transpired, and whether an investigation has been launched with the aim of holding someone responsible.
At the protest line was the brother of a young man who had suffered a similar fate some 16 years ago. Adrian Brandt explained that his brother, Jermaine Brandt, was also on an outing with his family when he lost his life at this facility.
As protestors marched through the streets, they could be heard shouting, “Justice for Ronaldo Gomes!” among other slogans.
A post-mortem conducted by State Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh revealed that the teen died of asphyxiation as a result of incised wounds to the neck and body.
Gomes’s body – hands and neck – bore marks that are consistent with injuries caused by the propeller of an outboard engine.
Based on the findings of the autopsy, it was determined that the impact of the blow had caused the teenager to lose consciousness, and he subsequently drowned.
His lifeless body was pulled from the water a few hours after he had gone missing. It was discovered that the teen’s face was disfigured, and upon enquiring, relatives were told that he had come into contact with a jet-ski earlier in the day.
Although that had been the case, the rider of the jet-ski had not reported the incident. It was not until a search had been launched for the teen that someone reportedly told personnel at the resort that the teen had come into contact with one of the jet-skis.
The late teenager’s mother, Paula Williams, had called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of the former student of both the Business School and School of the Nations.
“If you are in a boat driving, and it hits even a coconut shell, the driver will know he hit something… What is more worrying, too, is the fact that when an alarm was raised that my son was missing, there were no lifeguards and workers of the resort present to help look for him,” the aggrieved mother told Guyana Times.
Meanwhile, after the post-mortem had been conducted, relatives were told by the Police that any step forward would have to be via private action. The teenager will be laid to rest today.