THE Massey Security Company reportedly has to compensate students of the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen campus for the losses they had suffered when their rooms in the New Building Society (NBS) Hall of Residence dorms were vandalised just after the Christmas season.

The UG online entity, Splash, has said that Health and Safety Manager Hugh Gibson told that publication that the recent vandalism was caused by the “incompetence of the Massey Security personnel” and that the incident happened because the contractor from the Massey Security company refused to follow the guidelines, which have subsequently led to an infringement of the security system. The company also took one week to send its investigators to the scene of the infringement.

Splash disclosed that a senior UG official has informed of a series of thefts occurring at UG, and this has reportedly brought into question the Massey Security’s ability to discharge its function.
The publication also disclosed that a similar break-in had occurred at the Office of the Pro-Chancellor, located at Pere Street, Kitty, in which several valuable items were stolen.

Splash has further added that four security personnel are under investigation, and UG is recommending that they be criminally charged and placed before the courts.

UG Public Relations Officer, Paulette Paul told the Guyana Chronicle that no feedback has been provided from the company, but, like every security company, protocol has to be followed in terms of compensation. She noted that normal procedure once any loss of property or belongings occurs is that the security company is held liable.

“We regret the loss the students have encountered. As such, we are putting measures in place to combat this issue,” Paul said. She underscored the fact that UG continues to upgrade and improve its security system.

THE INCIDENT
Upon returning from their holiday break, UG students were greeted with missing doors to their dorms, and they discovered that other possessions — such as laptops and phones, among their other belongings — had gone missing. It was obvious that the dorms had been vandalised by thieves.

The University of Guyana was officially closed on December 19 last, and is slated to reopen for the second semester on January 26. The students are in jeopardy because the laptops, an ideal tool for delivering academic work, have all been stolen. (Shivanie Sugrim)