– three bodies brought to shore so far

IN the wake of the deadly piracy attacks on 20 fishermen in Suriname, some fisherfolk in the neighbouring country and their counterparts here have docked their boats temporarily out of fear of the high seas criminals. Members of the fishing community are contending that the “sea is unsafe.”

Speaking with Surinamese Mark Lall, Secretary of Fisheries Collective Association related that all the boats that were at sea came in and are refusing to go out “Everything that is outside came in”. He continued, that while he understands the rationale behind the actions of the men it will have serious repercussions, since some 6500 persons are directly dependent on the industry for their livelihoods.
“”We are going to notice the spin-off effects in the coming period. The fish processors will not have fish to process, the workers will have no work, the fish transporters will have no cargo, the buyers will
have no products and the local market will not have fish” Lall told the media.

The boat owners however are asking for a guarantee that the lives of their crew will be safe as well as their boats and other property protected before they return. To this end, Lall said a meeting was held with the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV) Lekhram Soerdjan, who pledged to look into the concerns raised by the men. He further said assistance will be provided to the next of kin
for the missing men, according to Lall. Another meeting was scheduled for Friday) evening to work out the issues.

Meanwhile, since the men have docked their boats the price for fish has gone up by some 30%, according to reports coming out of Suriname and it is expected to climb more, if the men continue to remain ashore.
Authorities in Suriname on Friday afternoon managed to bring two more bodies to shore. Thus far three bodies were brought to land and are currently awaiting identification. This newspaper understands, family members of the missing men turned up in their numbers to get a glimpse with the hope of recognising their loved one but up to press time was unable to do so. The bodies which were brought into Paramaribo by the Suriname Coastguard on Friday morning were previously located, but challenges in the terrain prevented rescuers from retrieving them. Twelve fishermen remain missing. They are: Vickey Persaud, Ramesh Sanchara, Glenroy Jones, Tikaknauth Mohabir, Bobby Ibrahim, Bharat Heralall, Ralph Anthony Couchman, Rajkumar Bissesar, Sunil called “Paddock” and Olenski Maxwell.

Five of the initial 20 fishermen have so far emerged alive, while four have been discovered dead. On Friday, the Suriname police invited relatives of the missing fishermen to visit the department Kapitale
Delicten at Havenlaan Zuid Number1 and take along identification documents including ID cards and passports in a bid to ascertain the identities of the men. President David Granger on Thursday called the incident a massacre and announced that a day of mourning will be formally observed for the men
who were killed. Between Friday night and Saturday morning last weekend, four boats with 16 fishermen were attacked by pirates off the Suriname coast in what is seen as a “revenge attack” masterminded by
siblings. The men’s brother was murdered by gunmen late in March and reports are that the siblings , led by one “Sinbad” and his brother Nakool Manohar called “Fyah” , are allegedly behind the attacks since
the men, believe that fishermen were behind the murder of their
brother.