SUPERBET General Manager, Ashwien Surjbalisingh, said the company will partner with the Guyana Police Force and the business community to address crime which has taken a toll on businesses and the citizenry.On Monday last, six gunmen carried out a daring robbery at a Superbet shop in Pigeon Island, East Coast Demerara. The robbers carted off an undisclosed amount of cash.

At a press briefing Wednesday at the company’s headquarters in Barrack Street, Kingston, Georgetown, the Guyana and Surinamese General Managers collectively agreed that businesses in international trade face a growing threat from crime.

Surinamese General Manager, Surjbalisingh, who is on a visit to Guyana, said the company was attacked on four occasions by bandits.

On one occasion, bandits visited the headquarters with an AK-47 and grabbed a bag belonging to an employee.

“Imagine they came with heavy arms to attack in front of the building’s headquarters with so many security cameras, they came with the guns snatched a bag and escaped, but fortunately, it was a bag from one of our staff containing a cell phone.

“At one time, a driver with good skills managed to escape after being cornered on the road, our main concern is our staff,” the general manager said.

He said some staff are traumatised, so too are their relatives.

“Some of them even refuse to talk, they are in such a trauma, we invest and think about our employees and we want to protect them, we also want to protect our local and international investors from crime,” he said.

The general manager noted that every investor wants to see their investments grow.

“A good entrepreneur likes to invest, stay and check the benefits for the country, because now Superbet is a Guyanese company that is established and growing, we are getting more agents, creating more jobs for people, but when bandits attack you so much, then all stakeholders must participate in addressing these issues,” he said.

Asked if there are any suspicion the robberies could have been made possible because of inside sources within the business, Surjbalisingh said none of the investigations seem to point in that direction.

“We want to partner with the Government, ministries, police, (and) business community to address these kinds of problems with attacks on businesses,” he said.

The company has obtained the service of a private security company to transfer and guard its cash supplies.

Shrikant Kisoensingh, a Surinamese, who is general manager of Guyana’s Superbet Headquarters, said on every occasion the company is robbed, his family wants him to pack up and return home.

“All my families are in Suriname and they keep asking me why I keep taking such risks, so we are willing to partner and receive advice from law enforcement or business community to address the crime issue and to partner with them,” he said.