THE Guyana Police Force has made it known that based on intelligence, it is searching the Buxton backlands for the inmates who escaped the Georgetown Prison on Sunday after the unrest at the Camp Street complex. As more information is gleaned, the greater is the indication that this was not a spontaneous act, but one of careful planning and execution. It also raises questions as to how such planning could have been executed internally by the inmates without some sort of external support and who are the intellectual authors.
As of yesterday, the figure of escapees has climbed to six. As a public service, the Guyana Chronicle will be carrying the wanted men’s pictures in order that their image can be etched in citizens’ memories, making it easier to report any sighting to the nearest police station, or calling hotline numbers 225-6411, 225-8196, 225-2227, 227-1149, 226-7065, or 911. The last thing the nation would want is a repeat of the four-year criminal mayhem that resulted from the 2002 jailbreak. The death of those escapees, though it brought a sigh of relief, where it is yet to be irrefutably known who were the masterminds and supporters behind their break-out and sustenance, the society is the poorer from this type of intelligence-gathering.
The lesson of that era, if nothing else, has taught of the importance of getting to the bottom of the present unrest. The improvement in the force’s crime-fighting techniques will not only be put to the test, but be relied on to capture the escapees and engage in the needed interrogation work. Not wanting to frighten the society, but at the same time it cannot be ignored where illegal arms and ammunition may be lying around, Guyana’s vast backlands and possible likely support, those escapees pose threat to lives, limbs and properties. This is why it is imperative they be captured as soon as possible.
The East Coast Demerara backlands, which were built during slavery, connects to the East Bank of Demerara backlands and are an intricate infrastructural network, with forested and savannah lands which can be seen as havens to hide out. The nation cannot afford a repeat of the 2002 crime-fighting tactics whereby villages were held under siege and an entire group demonised. There would also be concern if there is an attempt to recreate the fear of one group, feeling it is being targeted by another.
Once the escapees are at large, it could also create and present cover for other criminal acts and harken back to the 2002-2006 era. The horror story recounted by taxi driver Matthew Shivtahal, who said he was abducted by the four escaped prisoners on Sunday evening following the prison break in Georgetown and his car used to transport them to the backlands, serves as reminder. As an aside, though not unrelated to criminality, the Tuesday gun robbery of passengers on a Route 32 minibus at McDoom, East Bank Demerara, where the driver was shot by alleged bandits and later succumbed is testimony to the presence and illegal use of firearms.
Among the escapees are Uree Varswyck, also known as Malcolm Gordon, who was on remand for double-murder since 2014 and Bartica massacre convict Mark Royden Durant, also known as Royden Williams. These are hardcore inmates. In 2015 Varswyck, who is a former policeman attached to the Tactical Services Unit, posted to his social media/facebook account that he would be free from prison. Many could recall the brutal precision in which the Bartica massacre was executed and the getaway tactics of those

involved in the crime. Certain crimes in our society create opportunities for political connotation and hostility, which carries sharp racial undertones that people have not been immune to or protected from. Looking at the present blame game by former Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, former Presidents Donald Ramotar and Jagdeo, and former Minister of Agriculture Dr. Leslie Ramsammy via letters and statements to the media, is casting a dark shadow of what could likely ensue.

On Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition Jagdeo even as he promised the escapees will have “no political support from the opposition and secondly, we are not going to go to any communities and ask them to provide safe-havens for any of the escapees so our security forces will not be shot at when they go into communities or have to face an entire community” could not resist the political mudslinging. Having said that, attention is taken of the constructive approach in making public, opinions on housing the inmates which is marked improvement to previous insensitivity and hopefully will remain.