…after several members robbed of small sums of cash

ARMED bandits wearing masks swooped down on members of the Guyana Society for the Blind on Tuesday night and forced them to lie on the ground, face down, as they made their way through their pockets.

It was after 9 pm when Anthony Robinson, a member of the society, and his friend Linden Stewart called ‘Smoker’ went into the yard of the Lot 44 High Street, Werk-en-Rust building to pick up clothes. The area is also referred to as ‘St. Phillip’s Green.’
Stewart finished first and went inside, but as Robinson was making his way in, he heard footsteps and thought it was another friend. On calling out, he got no response and the strange cologne the person was wearing alerted him to the fact that there were intruders present.

Robinson was escorted inside by the bandits and the society’s handyman, Mr. Selvin Jacobs was ordered to lie on the ground and keep quiet. Jacobs was the only sighted person among the victims that night.
When they all got inside, Robinson told the Chronicle he was pushed to the ground, hit across his chest, and threatened that he would be killed if he did not keep quiet.
Musa Haynes, Vishal Mohabir and Leroy Phillips were all manhandled during the ordeal. “They find $300 in Vishal pocket and throw it back to him and said they don’t want that and keep asking for money and keys.”

Jacobs told them it was a place for the blind and that there was no money there. The bandits nevertheless tried unsuccessfully to open several of the rooms in the society. So far, only a laptop has been missed.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Jacobs recalled the ordeal: “I saw Anthony coming in from picking up clothes and three other men coming in behind him. The one with the blue jersey put on a mask on his face and told me not to move. Another came and put a gun to my head and asked me for keys and money. They had me on the ground.
“They push their hand in my pocket and take out my testament and keys. One of them tell the one with the gun not to do me anything because he know me. It was very terrifying.”
Jacobs said he handed over a bag to the police that one of the bandits apparently forgot at the society, which contained a black jersey and two small black gloves.

No Police Response

President of the Society, Mr. Cecil Morris, had already retired to bed and was in his room when he heard unusual noise outside. He called the Brickdam Police Station twice and no one visited until Wednesday morning. “The girl who answered the phone the first time sounded like a little child. I told her St. Phillip’s Green and she asked where is that? She asked one question over and over again.”

The officer on the phone gave Morris another number to call and when he did, the person answering asked him the same questions all over again and promised to get to them.
“This is the farthest the bandits come. We does get robbed steady and the police does come an hour and so after, but this is the first time they come this far,” Morris said, adding, “They treat us as though we’re not important. I want to appeal to the commander that we have to do better than this.”

According to Morris, Leroy Phillips called a friend of his, who then called a police friend. The officer is the only one who paid a visit to the society that night following the personal contact that was made with him.
Executive member of the Society, Mr. Ganesh Singh, said this is not the first time that the police have failed to come through for members of the society. “We’ve had a lot of incidents here with limited or no police action,” he told the Guyana Chronicle.
He is calling on the relevant authorities to step up and provide some security for the society. “Maybe if a security company is willing to give us a security guard; or the City Council can give us a constable, or something.”

“We have no neighbours here and night time, people get robbed out here all the time. It’s been years now we have been calling for help at the back here. A security guard would definitely be a deterrent,” Singh said.

In a social media post Wednesday morning, Singh said two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) visited to talk to the victims. “These CID officers took no pictures, fingerprints or notes. The response given when asked about the lack of interest was that a crime scene team will visit during the day.” Around 3 pm, one police officer was seen at the society taking a statement from Jacobs.

“I wonder if the response would have been different if someone was shot. Someone in the hierarchy of the police force needs to act immediately. We had a number of reports previously of robbery and blind persons being harassed in the area, but no concrete action. The time has come for the police force to act more professionally,” lamented Singh.

Volunteer Administrator, Ms. Theresa Pemberton, told this newspaper that members of the society are robbed on a regular basis. “Their laptops are taken away, their bags, phone. One time a 72-year-old man, they take away his lil coffee and milo he had in a bag and threw him in a corner.”

Pemberton said they were elated at the thought of the Ministry of Social Protection being relocated to the building in front of them, as they felt they would now have more security around the place. But that project does not seem to be moving forward.
“The blind people clothes are stolen. They sit down and have their radios and these people push their hands and pull it out. This been going on quite some time and nobody seems to listen,” Pemberton said.

Commander of ‘A’ Division, Mr. Marlon Chapman, told the Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday that the accusation made of no police response will be investigated.
The society is bordered by an empty lot, a church, and an empty building. Its drive-way is full of garbage, bushes and vagrants who defecate and sleep along the way.