RADIO and television personality, Ossie Rodgers, yesterday staged another protest in front of City Hall on Regent Street, Georgetown, picketing over what he sees as racial profiling against East Indian Guyanese.

This time he was joined by members of the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) and two other persons, including a market vendor. Bearing placards, they stood in front of the building to highlight the issue.
In an interview with the Chronicle yesterday on the spot, Rodgers said he received numerous complaints on his television programme from many persons, including market vendors who claim to have been racially profiled by “Hamilton Green thugs”.
He said: “We have not seen any change in the Mayor and City Council behaviour, especially the Mayor, Hamilton Green, who called a press conference to justify his actions the last time.”
Rodgers asserted that the mayor decided to play politics with the issue rather than sort it out himself, or having it investigated. He declined to do this and the racial profiling continues.
“We want City Hall to investigate charges of racial profiling against a certain type of people which is our Indo-Guyanese people,” he declared.
He further stated: “We are going to continue this protest until there is an investigation into racial profiling.”
Rodgers said there are numerous complaints coming through his television programme, mainly complaints about East Indians who are being targeted in the city.
He noted that just last week some East Indian friends of his were arrested for soliciting and being “touts” because the men were reportedly pulling girls into their buses. He deemed this as being preposterous since no report was filed and there was no victim to testify to being solicited and harassed. The incident occurred at the Enmore bus park.
He emphasised that if the city constabulary wishes to see touting, they can visit the Sophia and Linden bus parks, but the Enmore and UG car parks are deemed very organised and there is rarely any kind of touting there.
City Hall, he said, is not very interested in these matters, especially that of touting as they are not going out and seeking persons who are actually doing it.
“They are doing it because they are targeting Indians and they feel that these East Indians can be bullied and feel intimidated.”
According to Rodgers, last week when he protested the matter of the three innocent men who were arrested for littering and loitering, he was informed that the magistrate had disposed of one of the charges as she could not have read what was written seeing it had been hastily prepared.