December 28, 1998
Ro Gayadhar, head of the Police Force publicity Dept, has announced that of the 165 armed robberies that the police has investigated in 1998 105 have been solved. He also stated that there were 23 murders of which only 3 have not been solved. The figures show that the police are so far capable of dealing with the threatening increase of brutal crimes with which they were confronted. Apart from the armed robberies they have also been confronted with piracy in our waters and armed hold-ups on the East-West Highway. Gajadhar has reported that the profile of the criminals has changed. Crime has increased and has taken on a more brutal form. He also said that an integral discussion should soon take place where decisions would be made on how to cope with the threatening increase of brutal crimes that is now flooding the country. Military Police Commander Cliff Gangpat had suggested that the MP's be given back the power to work alongside the Police and help in the investigations of the rising crimes. This suggestion that was also made about 6 months ago was discussed in the National Assembly where members were of different meanings about this. Mr Jagernath Lachmon (VHP) had stated that he would oppose this while another member Noermohamed wanted to know if there was a place in the democracy that allows the military to take care of police duties. Minister Dwarka Panday had said that it would be a temporary situation but could not answer Member Sardjoe's question as to how long this temporary situation would last. From the latest police profile investigations we gather that it is not only school drop-outs that are involved in crimes but that two university students were also involved in robberies. He also reported that 12 Guyanese who broke out of jail in Guyana and are now illegally in our country had formed an operation together with their Suriname brothers in crime and were also involved in robberies. The police have succeeded in arresting this group.
Even though the Government has shown that they cannot stick to their word, the CLO still has hopes that the workers will be paid the remains of their their salaries before the ending of this year. Because of the amount of work involved it is possible that some Ministries will be paid by the ending of this year but that a few will have to wait until the first week of January for their salaries. According to Michael Miskrin, Secretary of the CLO this would not have been the case if the Government had done their job as planned. When asked if he was angry with the government he replied by saying "what else can you do but be angry with this government". He also said that the ClO did not receive any angry reactions from its members. CLO's General Secretary Hooghart brought forward at the last elections of a new committee that a cosmic moment had fallen because the Ramadan has fallen together with Xmas and the New Years. This he said was a good time to bury the hatchet for a while and let peace reign. Hooghart suggested that they should end the year as is expected of all good citicizens by appologizing first to the people and then to all institutes and persons who believe that the CLO had insulted them during the past year. Hooghart hopes that this gesture would be accepted by all.
The First Aid Unit of the Academic Hospital has reported that there were no less than 30 cases that had reported for first aid as a result of burns caused by fire crackers. The youngest victim is only 3 years of age. There was also a very serious case where an eye might yet be lost to this yearly recurring event. Rabin Parmessar, Director of A.Z has reported that there will be more cases this year than in the past. He has stated that the increase is not only due to the vast amounts that are now available on the market but mostly the fault of parents who do not supervise young children. He also complained of the many drunken drivers who end up at the First Aid after being involved in road accidents.