THE City Constabulary has launched its own internal investigation into the recent break in at L. Seepersaud Maraj and Sons Jewellery and says efforts will be made to beef up its security.
At a news conference at the City Hall on Thursday, Chief Constable Andrew Foo and Town Clerk Royston King updated the media on the July 2 burglary whereby robbers carted away with millions worth of jewellery.
On Thursday morning, the Chief Constable along with Deputy Mayor Akeem Peter met with the proprietors who expressed their “frustration” and “hurt” over the incident but they were given assurance that the matter is under investigation.
Providing a recap, Foo said that following the incident which occurred around 7am, the jewellery store made a report to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) but an official report was not lodged at the City Constabulary. The Constabulary heard about the incident some two hours after it was reported to the GPF and Foo made known his disappointment that the two authorities were not contacted simultaneously.
He said that swifter action would have allowed the Constabulary to close the market and conduct a search for possible perpetrators concealed within. “We were a bit disappointed that that information was not provided in a timely manner, that could have been done simultaneously… in terms of procedures where when we have breakages of this nature, this magnitude, we shut the market down.
“Because we’ve learnt from the past that some of these crimes, when they’re committed, they’re committed by persons within the market. There are persons who seclude themselves within stalls, at the top of stalls, they come out by night, and during the day if it’s in terms of holidays, and they operate,” he said.
He added that the absence of an official report from the proprietors also prevents the Constabulary from providing an estimate of the total losses incurred.
At the time of the indecent there were 4-5 ranks and one supervisor on duty around the vicinity and Foo explained that the ranks operate 24-hours on a shift system.
However, he acknowledged that the 4-5 ranks at the Stabroek Market security shift system are inadequate and the Constabulary and City Council will now be working to address this deficit.
“I would not say that the numbers are adequate, we would like to have much more in terms of ranks to execute the mandate of the Constabulary,” he said, later adding:
“There are a number of possibilities which we’re working on…outside of that we’ll have to look at having the numbers increased. The numbers that we have are not the desired numbers but we’ll have to discuss that with the council in terms of possible recruitment of additional persons,” he said.
When the Guyana Chronicle visited the Stabroek Market and spoke with a few business owners about their thoughts on the incident, one jewellery stall owner, Ms. Nandlall had this to say:
“We need more security. They say we have constables 24/7 but how the people come in the market and how do they go out? They have to be able to know what’s going on. You can’t have them and have robbery in the market.”
Another stall owner commented: “If you call for a constable you don’t get nobody…they need to do their job more better. We don’t have security here right now… some people for many years don’t come in the market because they’re afraid to get robbed.”
When asked whether the Constabulary would be accepting responsibility for what transpired, Foo said: “That is not something for us to actually pronounce at this point in time. It’s a wide range, in terms of investigation, that has to be carried out…persons may want to arrive at certain conclusions so I’m happy that you have the Guyana Police Force who is leading the investigation into this matter.”
On the same issue, six persons have reportedly been picked up for questioning in relation to the matter but City Hall was unable to confirm whether any of these were constables.
However, they say that within the vicinity of the market, there are some stalls with cameras which Foo is certain will aid the GPF and the Constabulary in their investigations.
Additionally, recently there have been media reports that the security body hired to monitor the jewellery stall, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), had received alarm signals of the robbery but failed to contact the proprietors.
However, in a press release on Thursday MCC apologised for making a public statement about their client’s confidential security matters but corrected what they say are “false statements” made in the media.
“Upon receiving electronic alarm signals from L. Seepersaud Maraj’s Stabroek Market location, MMC Security Force made calls to the telephone numbers provided by our client. We have verified this with GTT’s records. Those calls were not answered. As per operating procedure, we dispatched an armed Power Patrol team to the client’s location. Unfortunately, our team was unable to gain access to the Stabroek Market after normal business hours,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, King said at the press briefing that the incident is to be regretted noting that the business had been in operation in the market for over 82 years. However, he noted that a similar breakage into the same stall occurred in 2014 where the guilty individual was sentenced to four years in prison.
When the Guyana Chronicle visited the Stabroek Market, L. Seepersaud Maraj and Sons Jewellery had re-opened on a small scale and were conducting remedial works to the store.
