THREE employees of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) appeared in court yesterday, charged with a burglary at their workplace.

Sherwin Clarke, 21, of Lot 18 Block X Grove/Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara;  Delroy O’Neal, 20, of Lot 582 West Ruimveldt and Joy Garraway, of Lot 4 James Street, Albouystown, also in Georgetown, faced a joint indictable charge in front of Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

The break and enter and larceny allegation, for which they were placed on $1M bail, each, said between October 28 and 29, the trio broke into the GEA and stole articles with a total value of $1.7M and fuel worth $2.2M, property of the GEA.
Police Sergeant, Lionel Harvey, prosecuting, said two of the accused were seen, on a surveillance camera, exiting a car with a known registration number and entering the GEA building.
The case will be called, again, on November 21. 
The GEA, on Wednesday, reported that two specialised dispensing containers and one four-litre can with domestic marker concentrate used by the Fuel Marking Programme, were stolen from the company.
The agency said the theft took place on Friday, October 28, between 21:00 hrs and 23:00 hrs and, contrary to reckless and sensationalised reports in some sections of the media, the volume of marker stolen was not equivalent to three barrels.
The amount was approximately 20 litres (4.4 gallons) which had been prepared for use the following day, GEA said.
The GEA explained that the perpetrators did not gain entry by force but had intimate knowledge of the electrical system and procedures for accessing the marker concentrate.
The two security firms and patrols on duty did not report any unusual activity, other than the presence of three employees during the time of the larceny and GEA said it can confirm that three employees drove into the compound at about 21:00 hrs and, within minutes of their arrival, a portion of the building’s electrical system was deactivated.  
A release said, within two hours, the marker concentrate was stolen and the building’s electrical system was reactivated.
GEA stated that all fuel dealers, vendors and the general public are warned to desist from illegally purchasing these markers. Anyone found in possession of or dealing with the marker is liable, on conviction, to a fine of $3M and imprisonment for one year.
Additionally, persons are asked to report any suspicious activities in relation to the stolen marker, which leaves a conspicuous red stain when handled or spilled.   
Information can be given to the GEA’s Secretariat on telephone number 226-0394 during working hours or directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 624-5905.
Previously, in September 2010, the GEA had reported another theft of fuel marker concentrate by four masked bandits who entered the compound, subdued the security guards with handguns, cut the locks on one of the four 20-foot containers and left with two cans of the domestic marker concentrate used to mark fuel.