Guyana Observer News

A 22-year-old pregnant Guya-nese woman was found burnt to death in her car in Queens, New York on Saturday. Dead is Omadevi Megbaran-Saran called ‘Annie’, formerly of Narine Street, Annandale, East Coast Demerara. The former St Joseph High School student lived in California but had been visiting her mother, Danmattie Persaud in Queens, her father, Rajendra ‘Naresh’ Megbaran told Stabroek News yesterday. WPIX-TV reported that the death is being investigated as a possible homicide after Saran’s body was found in the backseat. It said that the New York Police and Fire Depart-ments responded to a call just after 4am on Saturday of a vehicle fire at the corner of Jamaica Avenue and 130th Street, and after putting out the blaze they discovered an unidentified person in the rear seat of the 2000 BMW.

 By Freddie Kissoon

I read Mr. Ravi Dev’s piece on the Neesa Gopaul tragedy in yesterday’s issue of KN. Nothing Dev writes shocks me. It doesn’t because over the years he has outlined and established his cultural ideologies and has applied them to Guyana. Mr. Dev is not the first and will not be the last citizen who will see Guyana’s future through the prism of ethnic hegemony. In his column, Mr. Dev lamented the loss of moral signposts in Guyana that eventually led us to the tragedy of Neesa Gopaul. He dates it from the seventies. Let’s quote him; “The sordid tale around Neesa…is merely the dénouement of the degradation that has come to typify Guyanese life since the seventies.” He further wrote; “After our economy disintegrated, many excused our descent into immorality….” It is so unfortunate that people in this country, supportive of either the PPP or ethnic causes, could see a connection between the bestial, inhuman methods that went into the murder of Neesa Gopaul with the state of politics and economy forty years ago. Their objective is to blame the PNC. This is powerful propaganda coming in the midst of an election campaign. They are trying to convince the Guyanese people that the malignancy and social sarcoma that are devouring this country go back to when the PNC ruled.

Lawyers for some of the six men released on Saturday after turning themselves in to police, who had issued wanted bulletins for them, yesterday said that their clients are giving the lawmen an opportunity to conduct their investigations before saying anything publicly. Attorneys Vic Puran and Glenn Hanoman, whose clients include businessmen, Bramanand Nandalall Rambrichie called ‘Bramma’, Clayton Hutson and Salim Juman Azeez, yesterday said that while their clients are very upset with wanted bulletins being issued for them as they saw no basis for such a move, they will await the outcome of the investigation. And Hanoman, who represents US-wanted man, Barry Dataram said his client has instructed him to institute civil proceedings against the Guyana Police Force for illegal detention. Dataram, for whom a bulletin was not issued, was picked up by two van loads of policemen near his home on Friday night and after spending a night in custody, was released on Saturday. Hanoman said it appears as if his client’s arrest was a “mistake” as he was not questioned by the lawmen and was just placed to sit on a bench. He said that unlike the other men, who were all questioned in relation to ongoing investigations, Dataram was not asked anything and was released on self bail. The lawyer said he enquired from the police the reason for his client’s arrest but none was given.

- Neesa’s case with agency for over a year

Some members of the Child Care and Protection Unit at the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security are insisting that their supervisors knew the officer who was handling the case was unable to contact the troubled teen. The 19 child protection officers each have a caseload of literally hundreds of children and the manner with which reporting is done is that the officers upon their return from field visits would log what transpired in a specified book. his book is reviewed daily by the supervisors and according to the Child Protection Officer who was the one that was working the case, she is certain that the supervisor knew that she was not making contact with Neesa. Further the officer blamed the ridiculous manner in which records are kept pointing out that it was only recently that she was given the case and even more recent that she learnt that the case was reported to the Ministry and that they had a file on Neesa for a year now.

Even as Cabinet has given the green light for $64m in revetment works to be undertaken in the vicinity of the Craig, East Bank Demerea foreshore, experts predict that river flooding there may be far from being solved. At the same time water from the Upper Demerara watershed, the consequence of heavy, persistent rainfall, which converges in the Demerara River may have dire consequences on the surrounding low coastal areas as flooding in several communities in Region 10 has demonstrated in recent months. Government engineer Walter Willis told Stabroek News recently that works are currently on-going at the Craig area, close to the bank of the Demerara River. He said that timber revetment is being constructed in the area by M&B Con-struction and the company is presently backfilling the affected area, which is close to 300M in length. He said that clay from another local source is being filled into the area.

Mon Repos resident Stephen Ramahlo was last night nursing two gunshot wounds to his legs and police were hunting three suspects following a late night home invasion at Lot 139 fourth Street Martyrsville, Mon Repos. Ramalo was reportedly shot at around 23:00 hrs after he fought with the robbers. is wife, Carmen Persaud, who was clearly traumatised at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation last evening recounted the harrowing details. According to Persaud the gunmen struck shortly after they had finished entertaining some guests. She recalled that she was sitting in a chair waiting for her son to return from work when the incident occurred. Her husband was in a bedroom at the time. “My husband had just finished bathing and went in the room and one kick and the whole door fly open.”

 By Freddie Kissoon

There can be no doubt that the Ministry of Social Services officers did not use meticulousness in monitoring the domestic irregularities that enveloped Neesa Gopaul. Minister Manickchand, with supersonic speed has denounced the failings of her officers. There are calls for discipline. One hopes that those who are advocating sanctions against these employees are aware that since time immemorial, the morally correct thing is for the final authority to resign. That is a high moral tradition in public life. When subordinate officers are guilty of horrible lapses that result in tragedies, the subject Minister must do the ethically correct act and depart. I hope we see the resignation of the subject Minister as soon as possible. The fear of this writer is that the officers of Ms. Manickchand’s Ministry that failed the dead girl will be sacrificed on the altar of politics. It would be regrettable if this immense tragedy is used by the Government of Guyana powerhouses to retrieve some credibility. One caveat is necessary – if people are incompetent, they should be disciplined, but it is immoral for their incompetent political superiors to use such a situation to mask their own ineptitude.