POLICE are on the hunt for four inmates discovered missing from the New Amsterdam Prison after the cells were unlocked  to allow inmates  to empty their ‘tennies’ [ a utensil used for collecting body waste] shortly  before 07:00hrs yesterday. The escapees are recently convicted  high seas pirate, 32-year-old Kevin ‘ Long Hair’ Narine,  also known  Ram Sookdial and Ayodhiaram,  of  Number Seven Village , West Coast Berbice; Rickford La Fleur, alias  Rickford Williams,  35, of Circle Street, Skeldon, and Vryheid’s Lust Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara; Vijay Seenarine,  called   Vijay,  33, of Little India, Skeldon, Corentyne; and  Vinood Gopaul, 19, of 34 Yakasari, Black Bush Polder, Berbice.
Narine was recently sentenced to nine years imprisonment by Justice Brassington Reynolds, after the jury returned a majority verdict of guilty for robbery-under-arms on the high seas, while La Fleur is on remand on two separate charges of murder,  committed on  Cleveland Hetemeyer, called Waterdog , at Silverballi Gutter, Canje Creek, and  fellow inmate, Sabastian Clata. The latter was beaten while asleep at the New Amsterdam  prison  on May 1, last.
La Fleur also faces two counts of trafficking in narcotics. He allegedly had in his possession  two kilograms of cocaine and  617 grams of cannabis sativa  on March 26, last , at Shameena Jog Landing, Corriverton, Corentyne .
Seenarine  and Gopaul are also remand prisoners. The former  is on a carnal knowledge charge, while the latter  is accused of committing murder.
Gopaul had previously escaped from the said facility. On August 2007, while also on remand, he and 17 other remanded inmates staged a daring breakout around 13:30hrs by sawing through iron bars in the recreational area of the prison and jumping over a 15-foot fence at the back of the penitentiary.
They had used a make-shift ladder to aid them in scaling the fence. Sources told the Guyana Chronicle that LaFleur, Narine, Seenarine and Gopaul were discovered missing during a ‘check-off’ at around 06:45hrs yesterday.
A hole was subsequently observed on the northern wall of the male block. It is however unclear exactly what time the men actually fled from the penal institution, and questions remain unanswered as to how a convicted prisoner managed to escape with those on remand, since they are reportedly supposed to be housed in separate facilities.
The escape of the four comes hot on the heels of an incident involving a Surinamese national, Paul Doerga, and a prison officer, Orlando Jaundoo.
Doerga is convicted of fraud, and was sentenced to three years imprisonment, which he was serving at the New Amsterdam Prison.
Jaundoo, a training instructor at the said institution, was nabbed in uniform with Doerga on June 4 last in Nickerie by the Surinamese Police.
The disgraced prison officer has since been returned to Guyana, placed before the court, and is currently on remand awaiting trial, while Doerga  has been jailed in Suriname.
Local Police, meanwhile, are seeking the assistance of the public in apprehending the fugitives, and is asking anyone who may have information leading to their recapture to contact the Force on telephone numbers 333-2151 to 4, 333-2191, 333-3502, 333-3876, 225-6411, 226-6978, 911 or the nearest police station.
All information will be treated with strict confidence, the police said.