Six escapees on the lam -joint services activate operations
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan (right) and Commisisoner of Police, Seelall Persaud
Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan (right) and Commisisoner of Police, Seelall Persaud

SECURITY forces were able to confirm on Thursday that six Georgetown Prison escapees are still on the run, after a destructive fire demolished more than 50 percent of the facility on Sunday.
That figure was communicated to the media by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan at a press conference on Thursday afternoon at his Brickdam office.
On Wednesday, the Guyana Police Force had issued a statement indicating that eight escapees were still on the run. However, the Public Security Minister said on Thursday that two of the eight had been accounted for during an ongoing search at the Lusignan Prison – the holding area for the prisoners from Georgetown. The six escapees are: Mark Royden Durant called Royden Williams or “Smallie”; Uree Varswyck known as Malcolm Gordon; Stafrei Hopkinson Alexander; Desmond James; Cornelius Thomas; and Cobena Stephens, called “OJ.” Police believe that the first four mentioned are travelling together while the other two are separate.

The six wanted escapees

The Georgetown Prison, which was built to accommodate 600, was holding 1,018 inmates on Sunday. But after fire ripped through the correctional facility that day, authorities were forced to relocate more than 1000 of them to a walled field neighbouring the Lusignan Prison on the East Coast. No exact figure was announced.
And according to Minister Ramjattan on Thursday, of that amount, 463 have since been removed from the field. He said that 83 were transferred to the prison at Mazaruni; 90 were sent to the New Amsterdam Prison; 151 to the Lusignan Prison; and 48 to the facility at Timehri.
In addition, 26 were granted self-bail, while another eight were able to post their bail after it was reduced. Fifty-seven prisoners were also granted early release by the minister, who is empowered by law to do so. He explained that those who were granted early release by him would have been out of prison by the first week in August of this year. Their conduct in prison was also taken into consideration for their release.
With more than 500 prisoners still being kept at the walled field in Lusignan, Minister Ramjattan noted that facilities provided there are being improved and that the prisoners will be transferred back to the Georgetown Prison when cleaning of the compound is completed. He estimated that it should take about one week to do minor repairs and that 250 prisoners could be accommodated at that location.
Although most of the buildings at the Georgetown Prison were demolished, there are still a few concrete structures with cells which can provide accommodation for those prisoners.
The minister explained to reporters that authorities initially encountered difficulties in counting the prisoners, because they were uncooperative by refusing to identify themselves.

Meanwhile, Minister Ramjattan sought to assure the nation that every effort is being made to recapture the escapees – all of whom are murder accused and/or convicts.
“Every effort is going to be made to catch those six escapees. The joint services will be doing their best to hunt them down and bring them in” the minister said.
This was also the assurance of Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud, who shared that the joint services are currently conducting several operations to recapture the escapees.
“…at a joint services level, we have embarked on several operations which are consistent with the plan,” he said. That plan which he referenced, is an operational plan developed by the joint services to be presented to the National Security Committee. The objectives of the plan are to ensure: security of the prisoners; security of the prisons; to recapture the six escapees; and to restore order in the prisons.
According to Persaud, that operation, along with the others, is intelligence-led.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the escapees are asked to contact the nearest police station. It is a criminal offence to harbour fugitives!

 

 

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