…kill miner, escape with 100 ounces of gold
By Vahnu Manikchand
Dominican Republic national Pedro Pablo Rosario, a night supervisor at a camp, was shot and killed at about 02:00h on Friday when a group of armed and masked bandits invaded that mining camp at Black Water Backdam, Cuyuni River, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
According to information reaching Guyana Times, the 55-year-old Rosario and four other workers were on duty while other workers were at the dredge, about 30 feet
away, when the gunmen pounced on them.
Rosario was reportedly relaxing in a hammock at the watch camp when one of the bandits confronted him and discharged a round that fatally struck him. The three suspects then went to the dredge area, where they held the workers at gunpoint and removed two gold mats from the sluice box before making good their escape.
This newspaper understands that the owner of the camp reportedly told investigators that a total of 100 ounces of raw gold were on the mats to settle. Divisional Commander, Senior Superintendent Kevin Adonis, told the Guyana Times on Friday that the Police received a report of a robbery under arms that morning, and a team of investigators were immediately dispatched to the area.
The Divisional Commander disclosed on Friday evening that the body of the 55-year-old night supervisor has been air dashed to Georgetown. A post mortem examination is expected to be performed on Monday.
No arrest has as yet been made, but investigations are ongoing. This incident comes on the heels of persons operating mining camps in the Cuyuni region complaining bitterly over security threats, particularly from members of the Venezuela-based Sindicato gang.
In a letter of complaint to the media last weekend, the concerned operators disclosed that the gang has set up two camps in the Cuyuni River, and would usually rob persons (both Guyanese and Venezuelans) passing by in boats; and when persons fail to stop, they would open fire on them.
Commander Adonis had told this newspaper, when contacted, that because the men were on Venezuela’s side of the river, there was not much local law enforcement could do. He said the Police have since been urging persons traversing the river to remain on Guyana’s side of the border.
Miners are calling for Government to provide security escort for them while travelling past the Sindicato camps.
State Minister Joseph Harmon, at the post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, assured residents in frontline communities along Guyana’s border with Venezuela that steps are being taken to ensure their safety and security.
He noted that while Government has set aside “sufficient resources” for the security forces – both the Police and army – to respond to reports of attacks along the border, at the same time a lot of those State resources are being wasted to verify the credibility of such reports, which he said are sometimes mere nuisance reports.
The State Minister has emphasised the importance of protecting the country’s border, noting that the National Security Council had earlier this week discussed the increasing attacks along the western border, and coming out of that meeting is a high-level security visit to those borderline areas.
“A very high level delegation has gone in there, commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), a Senior Superintendent from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), and representatives from the Ministry of Natural Resources… “They’ve had specific briefings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (which) basically deals with matters in relation to the border, and (they understand) the need for them to exercise caution in dealing with these matters,” Harmon stated.
Additionally, a Parliamentary Oversight Committee on the Security Sector team, led by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, also recently visited the Region.
Over the past months, President David Granger has been visiting frontline communities along the border with Venezuela, and has announced several measures to beef up security in those areas, including an increased presence of Community Policing Group (CPG) members.
