SHAUN Grant, a member of the infamous “Fine-Man” Rondell Rawlins gang, was shot dead by police in a hideout aback the airport at Timehri.Shaquille Grant was shot dead by police, who alleged that he was hanging out with a gang of bandits whom they learnt had been planning a spate of robberies.
Michael Grant was shot by a licensed firearm holder whom he had robbed. All three Grant lads belonged to Agricola; all were killed at a very young age.
Michael Grant was just 18 when he died, leaving a spouse and a young baby. Whether they are related or not; whether young Shaquille was innocent of wrongdoing or not, the name Grant, once from Agricola, would be synonymous with gangs and crime for a very long time to come. Therefore, that baby of Michael Grant’s would forever carry the stigma of his father’s infamy.
Just as parents want their children to make them proud, similarly, parents should also live exemplary lives so that they can become role models for their children.
Michael Grant was certainly no role model for his child to emulate. Instead, that child would now be buffeted all his life by storms not of his own making.
Wounded also during that robbery was 19-year-old Curtis Costello, who is being treated under police guard at the Georgetown Public Hospital for gunshot wounds sustained to his neck and hand at the hands of the victim of the heist. A third bandit escaped a police roadblock following the robbery that was committed on businessman Nazim Khan at Grove on the East Bank of Demerara. He is currently in hiding.
These reportedly unemployed young men owned motorcycles and guns, which indicate that they got easy money by some means, whether legal or illegal.
The get-rich-quick syndrome has permeated some communities, with normal work not seen as an option to survival. The sad thing is that relatives who benefit from the spoils only realise too late the consequences of encouraging the young men into a life of crime; then they are left to lament their incalculable loss for the rest of their lives.
National Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan has his work cut out for him, because the prevalence of robbery, home invasions and murders is taking its toll on the nation, and he has promised zero-tolerance on crime and rogue cops.
However, there is a greater need to re-educate Guyana’s transgressing youths in the laws of the land, and the consequences of breaching those laws, as well as restoration of a moral compass, whereby they realise that society needs to thrive, and that their forays into criminal activities are a threat, not only to their intended victims, but to the general social landscape. Because the impacts are wide-ranging and far-reaching.
Guyana is attempting to develop a vibrant tourism sector, encourage private investment by foreign and local entrepreneurs, and even provide incentives for overseas-domiciled Guyanese to return home, but the crime situation is an impediment to the success of these economy-bolstering initiatives.
Guyana’s youth population needs guidance in the right direction with immediacy, so that there are no more “Blackie” Londons, “Skinnys”, “Fine Men” and Michael Grants.
