RESIDENTS of the community of Bartica will today gather with relatives, friends, colleagues  and others at the `Monument of Hope’ site to pay homage to the 12 victims of the February 17,2008, `Bartica massacre’. The observance , in the form of an inter-faith and memorial service  which begins at 10:00hrs,  has been organized by the Neighbourhood Democratic Committee (NDC) in collaboration with inter-faith organizations.
Among those expected to address the gathering is Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Kellawan Lall.
Killed in the most barbaric manner by marauding gunmen were Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakhir of Tuschen; Constables Shane Fredricks, 35, of 241 Herstelling and Ron Osborne of 198 Robb Street, Georgetown; Dexter Adrian, 37, taxi driver of 581 Conciliation Street, Tucville; Edwin Gilkes, security guard, Banks DIH; Irving Ferreira, security guard, CB&R Mining Enterprise; Ashraf Ally Khan, Essequibo Coast; Errol Thomas, 41, of 810 Tuschen Housing Scheme; Deonarine Singh of Wakenaam, Essequibo River; Ronald Gomes of Kururu, Soesdyke/Linden Highway; Baldeo Singh, of 153 Second Street, Montrose, East Coast Demerara; and Abdool Yasseen, 23, of 153 Good Hope, ECD.
On the fateful night of  February 17, 2008, at around 21:45hrs, the bustling nightlife in Bartica, the gateway to the mining community, came to an abrupt end as the 12 were murdered, just as Guyanese were beginning to come to grips with a similar occurrence at Lusignan, a village on the East Coast of Demerara, some three weeks earlier . 
The carnage happened even as Barticians, like other Guyanese countrywide, and citizens in other CARICOM states, were all hyped  and glued to their television sets for the   Stanford 20/20 cricket match final involving Guyana in Antigua .
It was the work of heavily-armed gunmen, dressed in foreign camouflage and khaki-type clothing who first attacked and neutralized activities at the Bartica Police Station, killing three policemen, including one who was spotted hiding behind a cupboard.
Three other law enforcement officers were injured in the process.  
The police have since unveiled a plaque in the vicinity of the police station.
The `Monument of Hope’, a 13-foot black marble memorial sculpture, is ideally erected on a plot donated by the Anglican Diocese of Guyana, a few feet from the Essequibo River, and is being viewed as ` a place of reflection, introspection, quietude and serenity, and signifies that Bartica will always be strong, resilient and prosperous.’ 
It is a  sanctuary of ‘hope and healing’ and  ‘a living will and testament’ to the lives of the 12 men who were brutally and senselessly gunned down, some while in the line of duty, others while asleep or otherwise in the comfort of their homes.
Weighing 21,000 pounds with four bronze plaques, each weighing 65 pounds, the monument, in black, bronze and gold, is a gift to the community from J. Patrick Sheridan and Guyana Goldfields Incorporated (GGI), with support from the government and people of Canada, among others. It was designed in Canada and manufactured in India.