THERE is a video circulating on ‘You Tube’ right now of police beatings at Marudi and there is outrage. The outrage stems from the fact that the police seem to be taking advantage of innocent civilians which we all abhor. This unjustified use of force has caused some writers to go overboard with their comments which I think is totally uncalled for, somewhat stretching the facts too much.   I have looked at the video many times over and came to the conclusion that much more needs to be done as in the conduct of our affairs in the interior. If this is not done then one of these days, things will explode and all involved would be very sorry. Wherever there is wealth, gold in this case, there is bound to be a struggle both on the part of the indigenous peoples and the police who must maintain law and order.
 Speaking about law and order, are they doing just that? Are they protecting or serving people’s rights or their own rights when it comes to what lies under the ground? These are questions I am not so sure we are getting answers to when you take a good look at those pictures at Marudi.  
What I gather from that video is a group of policemen, the one with the dark glasses in particular, who seemed very impatient with the protesters blocking his path.
He responded in very crude and uncouth fashion by beating up on the men, I repeat the men, who were lending support to the Amerindian lady and her child lying on the road. The police, in their haste to get to what “lay ahead of the trail,” were in no mood to negotiate a peaceful removal.
And that is the naked truth, this matter of the corrupt police officers who are more interested in what they could get from these miners, the largesse, money as one policeman puts it “the gifts” boy. These are the things that drive them (police) along. In this regard they cannot savour the idea of being bogged down by a protesting woman. That is the “dog eat dog” situation of Guyana’s brutal bush life.
We see it so often; the corrupt cop goes into the interior, spends a few months and comes out again with huge gold pendants and a fat bank account, compliments of “protecting the mining companies.”  
The Amerindian communities do not have the wherewithal for that “protection.”  
That said video is reminiscent of the Biblical account of Balaam and the ass. The King Balak promised the prophet Balaam great wealth only if he worked his incantation on Israel. The long and short of that story is Balaam, the corrupt prophet, was scheduled to work his voodoo on Israel and in so doing “protect” Balak and his country, the same situation between the police and these mining companies. I will not go into the details of Balaam’s story but would mention this, the overzealous prophet thinking of what lay ahead spoke to the donkey for being tardy in its duties. One of the things he said was: “If I had a sword I would kill you” Things that kill were in the picture presented in that video and heaven knows what more could have transpired hadn’t there been a cameraman.

And this is my point, a wild west situation is unfolding in the interior and government needs to take a closer look at the way the police as well as civilians operate there.
For the police’s part they need to be disciplined in the strongest possible way. For the Amerindians with the mistaken view of their new found rights that they own the land and what lies beneath. They too need to be educated as to their rights and where those “rights” end. The interior is a ticking time bomb and government needs to address this situation urgently before things get out of control.