Rohee expects Boards of Inquiry reports within days
MINISTER of Home Affairs, Mr. Clement Rohee said yesterday that, by this weekend or early next week, he expects to get reports from the two Boards of Inquiry set up to probe the separate escapes from New Amsterdam Prison in Berbice.
He told reporters that, as far as he knows, the Boards have started working, one headed by Major General (ret’d) Norman McLean and the other by Police Crime Chief Seelall Persaud.
Rohee said the Boards are fully constituted according to the Prison Service Act and, by this weekend or latest Tuesday, he should have the reports.
He said the inquirers are on site and interviewing persons who they consider to be relevant to the investigations they are, currently, conducting.
Asked to compare the last prison break to the most recent, he noted that the previous one coincided with the crime spree that seemed to be a political event but there is no intelligence or other information that prisoners or other persons involved are so motivated.
However, he said the authorities should remain alert.
“We maintain our interest in recapturing the prisoners and putting them behind bars, once again. We have our work cut out for us and we are maintaining our focus, because the faster we do that we put out any fears,” Rohee said.
He said there is no firm information whether the escaped prisoners are in Guyana or have fled the jurisdiction but it is known they are fugitives from justice and other law enforcement agencies from neighbouring countries are cooperating with a view to recapturing them if that situation arises with their counterparts overseas.

MASSIVE MANHUNT
Guyana Police launched a massive manhunt after the four inmates were discovered missing from the New Amsterdam Penitentiary last Saturday when their cells were unlocked, to allow them to empty their utensils of body waste, shortly before 07:00 hrs.
The men at large are 32-year-old Kevin ‘Long Hair’ Narine, also known as Ram Sookdial and Ayodhiaram, of Number Seven Village, West Coast Berbice; Rickford La Fleur also known as Rickford Williams, 35, of Circle Street; Vijay Seenarine called Vijay, 33, of Little India, also from Skeldon and Vinood Gopaul, 19, of Lot 34 Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, all of Corentyne, Berbice.
Narine was recently sentenced to nine years imprisonment for robbery under arms on the high seas; La Fleur was remanded on two separate murder charges and two counts of drug trafficking while Seenarine and Gopaul are also on remand, the former charged with carnal knowledge and the latter with murder.
Gopaul had previously broken out of the same prison with others in 2007 also while on remand.
Local police, seeking public assistance to recapture the escaped quartet, are asking anyone who may have information leading to their arrest to telephone numbers 333-2151-4, 333-2191, 333-3502, 333-3876, 225-6411, 226-6978, 911 or contact the nearest station.
Informants have been assured of strict confidence.
The flight to freedom by the four follows that of Surinamese Paul Doerga, who is alleged to have been aided by prison officer Orlando Jaundoo.
Doerga, a convicted fraud sentenced to three years imprisonment and Jaundoo, a training instructor at the penal institution, were apprehended in Nickerie by Surinamese Police on June 4.
Jaundoo has since been charged and is, currently, on remand awaiting trial here, while Doerga is in the Surinamese custody.
The Board headed by Persaud is probing how the two were able to flee from the prison.