LAST Thursday night, a juice factory owned by Mr. Al Aziz in Canal Polder No. 1, West Bank Demerara, was razed to the ground by arsonists, resulting in estimated losses of more than $100M. Information available so far indicates that this was a planned arson attack and investigators have to try to get to what was behind it.
Why would anyone want to deliberately set fire to a juice factory that employed 25 persons and provided a ready and nearby market for produce from that vibrant farming commnity?
This factory was established only last year in the interest of not only of Mr. Aziz but of his community and country.
As everyone knows, the Canals Polder is one of the country’s prime agricultural communities, producing an abundance of fruits and vegetables and setting up a juice factory there was a sound and ideal investment.
With its destruction, 25 persons are unemployed and hundreds of farmers have lost a convenient market for their produce.
Mr. Aziz said the unarmed guard on duty, Wazir Khan, related that he heard a noise at the back of the building and when he went to investigate, saw three men, one of whom lashed him with a gun in his face. He said he was then bound and gagged after he told the men he did not have any money.
According to Aziz, Khan said the bandits demanded cash from him before they doused the place with kerosene, lit it afire and escaped.
A security guard on duty at a factory is not likely to have the kind of cash that would attract bandits, so the demand for cash was just a ruse.
It seems most likely that the intention was to terrorise and send a message.
If that is the case, then this could be the work of an organised criminal network that is probably being directed by more than criminal bosses and could be a signal of an intended pattern with which the authorities are not unfamiliar.
At the moment information is sparse and therefore one cannot form any concrete conclusion except to make informed speculation. But what is almost certain is that the attack could not have been robbery.
The capturing of these arsonists is a necessity because it could avert another possible unleashing of terror by those bent on creating instability in this country for their narrow self interests.
Therefore the police have to go into overdrive to solve this mystery because this could have an adverse impact on the nation’s accelerated economic development.
This venture by Mr. Aziz is exactly the kind that the Ministry of Agriculture has been advocating and encouraging – value added production, as it has been recognised that historically, the agricultural sector has been commodity production oriented, and this cannot suffice in today’s competitive business environment.
It would be hoped therefore that the Agriculture Ministry would move as quickly as possible to see what assistance could be provided to Mr. Aziz to restart his most appropriate venture.