ON April 27, 2018, an attack by pirates occurred off the Atlantic Coast of Suriname; 15 Guyanese fishermen were either known to have died or are missing and presumed dead; fortunately, there were survivors and government’s response was immediate. Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan revealed that he was in constant contact with the Suriname government and Guyana was expecting answers to questions about what had happened.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon made it clear that all the affected families were given financial assistance by government; medical and funeral expenses were covered, and families of the missing fishermen were given money and psychological and other needed assistance to help them recover from the trauma. And he added that, “The Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) [maritime] unit has increased its security posture.”

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo assured the nation that Guyana’s anti-piracy laws were up-to-date; he said, “Whatever the motive, I wish to remind all fishing folk and their hired hands that offences at sea carry serious penalties.” These include life imprisonment for hijacking; life imprisonment for piracy; 10 years imprisonment for covering up a piracy attack, where death resulted and death by hanging for murder on board a vessel during an armed robbery, hijacking or piracy.”

The saddening event and the quick and massive response by government are remarkable, because since the APNU+AFC coalition was elected in May 2015, pirate-attacks have all but disappeared; prior to the April 27 incident, the year 2018 was without a single incident of piracy. In contrast, during the long and torturous reign of the PPP regime, piracy was an almost daily occurrence; fisherfolk left their families to go to work not knowing if they would return. And in those days, the PPP government did absolutely nothing. One wonders, why?

Guyanese, particularly fisherfolk based in Berbice, recall those horrible years before the coalition took office.
One remembers that in 2007, 15 boats were attacked in a single day — December 1.

On that day, five of the boats that were attacked and some of the terrorised crew were taken by pirates to Suriname and abandoned in Coroni and Copenaam. Some of the fishermen later said that they had recognised the voices of the masked attackers as Guyanese connected with wealthy and powerful interests. The victims also said that they were threatened with death if they talked. The poor fishermen were so desperate after getting no help from the PPP authorities, that they pooled what little money they had and offered a $500,000 reward to anyone who could help them.

One recalls that in November 2008, an attack by pirates at the Rose Hall foreshore ended with a shootout, leaving Detective Constable Travis Glasgow dead, along with 57-year-old fisherman Hector Boodhoo, who was tortured and killed by pirates while tied to a tree.
On October 28, 2009, five pirates attacked the ‘Prince Oman,’ a fishing boat, taking two fishermen hostage – one from the Corentyne, the other from Annandale – and stealing the whole boat with equipment and catch worth $6 million. The bodies of the hostages were found two days later as the survivors of the attack recovered from shotgun pellet wounds.
In March 2010, fisherman Narine Sundar was beaten mercilessly with cutlasses by three pirates near the Corentyne foreshore. His engine and other valuables were taken by three pirates and he was left without a means of making a living.

On June 4, 2013, five armed pirates attacked five fishermen at sea, tied them up, threw them overboard, stole their equipment and supplies and set fire to their boat. Two of the victims drowned, the three survivors somehow made it to shore.
On February 17, 2014, five armed men aboard a boat attacked fishermen on another boat named ‘Sharmila,’ on the Corentyne River. The attackers robbed the fishermen of their entire catch, fish-glue and equipment, and abducted the captain of the Sharmila.

On July 2013, when pirates attacked a group of Guyanese fishermen, the men fought back and managed to subdue the attackers. The fishermen then chose to go to Suriname and handed the pirates over to Surinamese authorities, because they had lost all confidence in the PPP government. This is totally understandable, because the fishermen said that under the PPP government they were afraid to speak out because of threats from ‘big ones.’ They say that the police could not help them because the ‘piracy set-up’ involves some very rich people in powerful positions; the fishermen were afraid to talk; they feared for their lives and that of their families left behind when they went out to sea.

The PPP government’s response was unbelievable; PPP officials said that there were not enough human resources, equipment and technology to patrol our 432 kilometres of coastline. Even more incredibly, when a group of fishermen, fed up with the situation, approached PPP Minister Clement Rohee, he told them that he cannot deal with everybody; they have to form an association and send representatives to see him. Further, he suggested that they form their own committee like a policing group. Can anyone believe it? Those examples of attacks and the PPP government’s response was as if the attacks were typical, almost-everyday occurrences.

The fact that regular and frequent attacks are now in the dark past is no accident. Following the April 2018 attack, Minister Harmon explained that when the administration took office in 2015, piracy attacks were a regular occurrence. However, coordinated efforts by the government resulted in a significant reduction in the number.

“This is a result of a consistent approach by the government, the first thing we did was activate the Anti-Piracy Task Force, which met at least once per month to review matters of this nature…The minister of public security and several ministers also engaged the local fisherfolk with respect to protection of their vessels when they are out at sea…

This combined effort on the part of the state, in our view, forced those who had that criminal intent to have to operate outside of Guyana’s waters, but certainly this is something that we have to continue to look at because it seems as if this kind of criminal intent ran very deep and it is something which the security forces will have to pay greater attention to as we move forward,” the minister of state had said.

As Guyanese contemplate the future, citizens should remember what was “normal” under the PPP regime. Guyanese should reminisce on the days when fisherfolk from the Corentyne were being killed daily, and PPP government officials did nothing to help. And we must resolve never to allow Guyana to go back to those horrible days.