STEPHEN Ramcharran of Success Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara, reportedly threatened to “kill” Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, when he visited her Brickdam Office yesterday.The father of two reportedly did not make the threat directly to the minister, but allegedly uttered the words which caught the attention of a security guard on duty at the time, who immediately informed the minister’s security detail.

The minister was informed, and she instructed her security detail to contact the police.

Speaking with the Chronicle yesterday afternoon at Minister Broomes’s office, the 28-year-old said he was frustrated at having to make several visits to the Labour Department for settlement following an industrial action, especially since no satisfaction has been coming his way.

He admitted to using profanity on the premises, but said he never threatened to “kill” the minister. He said that after he was allowed into the compound to check on his matter, he had remarked, “I hope I get through today, because like somebody got to dead first before the minister look at you.”

His matter has, however, been ongoing long before the coalition government took office, and from information the Chronicle has received, he had been informed by the Department of Labour (Then Labour Ministry) prior to May 11 that nothing can be done to force the company he had worked for to pay him a settlement.

Ramcharran had worked as a delivery boy at a store on Regent Street, and while on the job, he had gotten into an accident that had caused him to be bed-ridden and unable to work for approximately nine months. His NIS contributions were reportedly also not up to date, and he had engaged the then Minister Dr. Nanda Gopaul in the former PPP Administration.

Ramcharran said he did not behave disorderly, but admitted that frustration caused him to say the things he had said while at the Department of Labour. He said he has never seen the minister, and does not know what the minister looks like.

FED-UP
The security guard on the premises, who also spoke with the media, said that after Ramcharran had entered the compound and was proceeding up the stairs, he made comments which suggested that he wanted to kill the minister.
“He said that he coming two years here now and he fed up running, and if he ain’t get through, he will kill the minister and no one will know he did,” the security guard related to the media. He said that at that point he informed the minister’s security detail, and the necessary actions were taken, which saw two policemen arriving at the location on motorcycles.

Minister Simona Broomes has said the incident was very disturbing to her, and brings into focus the need for additional security at the premises. She said she was alarmed by the man’s decision to show up at her office and allegedly make threatening remarks to ‘kill’ her when all the months and the two years which he was not receiving the assistance of the office he never saw the need to show up and make threats against any of the two ministers who had run the ministry at that time.

“If he is frustrated — I do not know him, he said he has a matter two years ago — he was not frustrated when the ministers before who were dealing with his matter before. Why he was not frustrated to come here and make threats to say that he would kill them if they don’t deal with his matters? How is it now that he is coming here with his frustration, after two years, to make threats to kill me,” Minister Broomes questioned.

She also lashed out at the police, whom she said had treated the report as if it were a joke, and she stated that had it been any other minister, she is certain that the way the police had handled the matter would have been deemed unacceptable.

“The policemen said that the Commander instructed them to leave the man and to proceed and not take the man to the Brickdam Police Station. If was another minister and [this] was in the past government, they (police) would have come here like an entourage. I don’t want an entourage, but it is a serious threat…”

Contacted for a comment yesterday afternoon, ‘A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken told this publication that he was aware of an incident at the ministry, but was not the one who had given any orders to the ranks who had visited the location. He said Deputy Commander Ian Amsterdam had instructed the ranks. He, however, defended the decision of Amsterdam after being briefed on the situation as was reported by the police ranks who had showed up at the location.

Commander Hicken said that ranks, after arriving at the location, were informed of the development by a security guard, who said that the man told him, “Like somebody got to dead before the minister act?”

Hicken said it was based on the account the security guard had provided that the police had decided that no offence had been committed after they were related the exact words of Ramcharran, as reported by the security guard. The Commander also reported that, before leaving the premises, one of the ranks had taken the disgruntled man upstairs and had asked the staff and other members of the public if the man had been abusive to them, since the intention was to charge him with that offence. They had all, however, responded in the negative, according to Hicken.

By late yesterday afternoon, ‘A’ Division police had also sent ranks from the Criminal Investigation Department back to the minister’s office to secure a statement from the security guard who was on duty at the time of the incident, and who had reported the matter both to the police and to the ministry staff on Thursday.

By Leroy Smith