Family members agonise over loved ones’ whereabouts
FAMILY members of the three missing seamen – Ramdat Roopnarine, also known as ‘Batman’; Wexton Andrews, called ‘Mampy’ (Captain); and Cald Burnette are pleading with the relevant authorities to understand their plight and bring to the table some justifiable answers with regard to the whereabouts of the three missing men. According to reports from the families of the men, the three had left Guyana on December 11, 2011 and were expected to return home on Christmas Eve Day, after spending a few days in the neighbouring country.
While circumstances surrounding their disappearance are still unclear, investigations are still being carried out to shed some light on the situation.
Speaking with this publication yesterday, Ivette Floy, mother of Wexton Andrews (Captain), said this is the first time since her son has been in this type of business that such an incident has occurred. Floy was not in a position to share much with the media, but she explained that she is still unaware of what might have transpired.
The father of two had left home with the intention of coming back to Guyana for the Christmas holidays to spend time with his reputed wife, Sherry Hartman, and their two children. However, all efforts to contact him have proven futile.
Kamaldai Shuckoo, reputed wife of crew member Roopnarine, said she had received several phone calls from her husband on the December 21, informing her that he would be in the country on December 24.
“The 21st of December he called back and he told me that he was going to be here Christmas Eve Day, so that he could spend time with the family, and on to now… He called about three times during the same day he left, and the night time he called back about ten o’clock, and he said that he was going to come home. And to date he hasn’t returned,” a tearful Kamaldai said.
The woman noted that since she is aware of the weather conditions, she wasn’t worried when her husband hadn’t arrived as promised. However, a few days before, she contacted her husband’s boss to inquire about the ship’s location and when it was expected.
“I leave out Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the next day I called the boss and asked him if he had any contact with my husband, if they left. Then he asked if they called me, and what time they called. I said about ten o’clock, and he said that they called him around the same time and say that they leaving. From then to now, he said, they didn’t get any contact with them,” the woman explained.
Understandably frustrated, Roopnarine’s wife said if she didn’t make contact with the ‘bossman’, called Johnny, he would never call to give her any assurance of her husband’s safe return home.
“Every day I keep calling, and if I don’t call he wouldn’t call. I got vex one day and I called and his wife answered. I asked her if Mr. Johnny home, she said no. I started to quarrel with her and I said Mr. Johnny knows everything and he don’t want to tell us, because if the police had my husband or if the Coast Guard had hold them up, Guyana suppose to know.”
She continued: “After that, she said that Johnny on the phone and was going to call me back. When he called back, he said why I tell his wife that just now? I said yes because you not telling me nothing, and when I ask, you saying how you send plane and boat, and I can’t get an answer as yet.”
Kamaldai said that after enduring a period of frustration, her mother-in-law collected the phone and asked the boss about her son and where he might be. She said the man, in turn, (allegedly) harassed her mother- in-law, accusing her of being a mad and drunk woman.
“My mother-in-law took the phone from me and she told him that is only one son she got, and she wants him back; she wants to know where he is. He told the lady how she drunk, and she is a drunkard and she is a mad woman, and how she son gone with some other woman. So my mother-in-law told him that her son got three children and his wife, so where would he leave and go; and further to that, where is the ship?”
The woman explained that since Johnny was giving no proper answer, her mother-in-law alerted him that she would be making contact with the police. Upon hearing this, he hung up the phone.
“My mother-in-law decided that she going to take it further and take it to the station, and he told her that when she ready to go she could do so, and the police will lock her up instead. When we went to the Leonora Station, the police asked couple questions and then asked for the boss number, and when he came back he said that he didn’t get through, that the phone rang out…They asked where he lived and I took them where. On to now they can’t give me word; they say that they can’t take no statement until they get the boss,” the woman complained.