–after night-time drop-off by ‘backtrack’ boat
–Suriname authorities to join search

THREE persons who left Suriname en route to Guyana are missing and feared drowned after being reportedly dropped off in the water some distance from the No. 63 foreshore around 19:30 hrs on Monday.

They have been identified as 77-year-old Baboni Harihar, called “Doris” of Palmyra village; 48-year-old Sharida Hussain, called “Sherry” of Pilot Street, New Amsterdam and Alwin Joseph, who is reportedly in his thirties.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that the trio reportedly travelled to Guyana via a ‘backtrack’ speedboat from Suriname, and were left on a sandbank in waist-high water by the captain of the vessel.

“We were on our way to pick her up. She called me around 7:30 [pm] in a state of panic. It was a bunch of emotions. She was scared; She was cold; She was panicking. She said she is in the boat and it drop her down inside the water and they are on some kind of bank and she has no visual of land and the water was getting higher”, 19-year-old Joshua Samaroo, the youngest of Hussain’s three children, related.

The young man told this publication that he tried subsequently to call his mother several times but was unable to get through as the phone went to voicemail.

Given that she was unable to identify where she was located, relatives decided to stick to the original plan of meeting at the No. 63 foreshore. However, after some time had elapsed and after driving along the length of the beach several times, Samaroo decided to contact persons who his mother may have called. However, they too had not heard from her.

Samaroo, with the help of friends, searched the entire beach until around 02:00hrs on Tuesday before deciding to visit the Springlands Police Station.

After making a report, he returned to the beach and continued the search until daylight. Around noon, he joined the police search which was focused on the area between No.78 to No. 63 villages, but they came up empty handed.

Up to press time last evening, he was still at the beach with friends and relatives, hoping to find his mother alive.

Meanwhile, Narinee Shamshunda, Joseph’s cousin, said she last spoke to
him at 19:00hrs and has not heard from him since. She is very worried.

“He call me 7 o’clock and say he a come Guyana and when he reach, he call me brother overseas and tell them he reach and he (her brother) call me and tell me to send somebody to pick he up. He say them drop he at 63 beach, but when we reach, we nah see he there. Since then, we nah get through back with he, no contact anything,” the woman said.

Joseph has been living and travelling between Guyana and Suriname for over 20 years and has a 10-year-old daughter in Suriname.

Also speaking with the Guyana Chronicle was Nadira Valdez, Harihar’s grand-daughter. The woman explained that her grand-mother travelled to the neighbouring country for a vacation in December, 2020. She was really missing her great-grandchildren and was adamant that she would come home to see them by whatever means necessary.

“They were dropped off, but I don’t know exactly if they drop them on the shore or the sandbank or where. We get the information from my auntie who she went to visit over there. Apparently, they put her on a boat to come over. So when they averaged she reached, they called to make sure she reached safely but they didn’t get through, so they called my brother-in-law to come up at 63 to look for her, but when he came he see the other relatives searching the beach,” she said.

SMUGGLING AT NIGHTS

The Guyana/Suriname border is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the police have reported that boat owners have been charging exorbitant sums to smuggle passengers from Nickerie to Guyana in the nights so as not to be detected by the patrols.

While some passengers have been caught on the foreshores and charged, the boat owners have managed to outsmart the police by using multiple drop-off points along the Corentyne River and the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the information reaching this publication, the trip usually takes between 20-30 minutes depending on the tide and would attract a $4000 cost per passenger. However, there are reports that passengers are now paying
$20,000 to $25,000 for the trip.

While checks are currently ongoing, the police’s river search and rescue
team is expected to continue patrolling with the hope of finding some clues as to what may have happened to the trio.

Berbice police have indicated that the Surinamese authorities were notified and will also be searching the river.