WCD deadly bee attack: Residents had complained of killer bees’ presence to authorities

One month ago, before a deadly bee attack in the area, fishermen along the West Coast of Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), had reported to authorities the presence of the killer bees at Onverwagt.
On Thursday, 71-year-old Winston Rigby, a fisherman of Number 41 Village, WCB, was killed and seven others were injured after they were attacked by a swarm of bees while they were walking out from a dam onto the public road.
This is not the first time that this same group of fishermen was attacked by the bees. The men were previously attacked on Mother’s Day, and the matter was reported to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council and the Regional Democratic Council.
William Rigby, brother of the late Winston Rigby, said the authorities had subsequently informed the men that specialists were sent to “catch the bees”, but the insects were not located.
As such, Rigby said, he had set out to locate the hive, and when he did, he marked the area, which was along the very dam. His plan was to lead authorities to the location, but before he could, infrastructural works took place, and his marking was bulldozed. Since then, no other efforts were made to track down the bees and address the situation.
The late Winston Rigby had been a father of four and a sibling of 20. The man had lived alone following the demise of his wife just under a year ago. He had worked as a fisherman for more than 50 years.
At the time of the deadly bee attack, the group of fishermen was heading to meet with an officer from the Fisheries Department concerning Government’s announcement of $150,000 one-off cash grant for persons in the industry. The grant is being given to fishers to help cushion the negative impact of low catches that deep-sea fishers have been experiencing over the past two years. The grant also seeks to assist persons operating in that area of the agriculture sector with the rising cost of equipment.
Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has said the Agriculture Ministry would use the remainder of this month to collect the names of active fishers and to verify that they are indeed fishers.
Meanwhile, those fishers who operate from the Onverwagt foreshore met with Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha on Saturday. They have been assured that once they are legitimate fishmen, they would receive the $150,000 grant.