A 25-year-old young woman, reported to be a student of the University of Guyana, is currently on remand for allegedly issuing bomb threats, “by means of a public telecommunications device system for the purpose of causing needless anxiety to the staff and students of the University of Guyana (UG) – a message which she knew to be false.” Based on reports from the Guyana Police Force investigating sources, further charges can be expected.

The guilt or innocence of the young lady, reported to be a niece of a senior Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member, will be decided on by the proper judicial authorities.

Bomb scares, as a part of this country’s social phenomena, have emerged sometime in the 1980s, often targeting government institutions, as is the current instance, resulting in the immediate evacuation of staff for obvious reasons of safety. Though it is observed that bomb threats are carried out by perpetrators in other jurisdictions for reasons such as drawing attention to themselves, seeking revenge, avoiding exams, or simply copycat, in Guyana, these acts would mostly occur during periods of social tension, or deliberate in its design to disturb societal peace, as pointed out by the Commissioner of Police. It is a particular point to be noted, that although made in relation to a particular incident involving a city private educational institution, has now seen similar threats being made to another private educational facility– Mae’s, and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) headquarters.

Whether it is a bomb threat, a scare, or a hoax, made in verbal or written form, whichever the description of such an act, by whoever is responsible, is indeed a very serious offence, as is now the instance in many other jurisdictions. In fact, such an act, which may have been perceived mainly as a prank decades ago, is no longer seen as such, especially in these current times when terrorism has made its murderous presence felt in many of the world’s capital cities, accounting for many deaths and mayhem. This is a fact, of which as a nation, we are only too aware and should, therefore, be concerned, and condemn such acts as bomb scares, even though lives are not lost.

A telephone call of a bomb threat/scare is known to have very serious psychological effects on persons in whichever place/building it is said to be. Persons are known to suffer from panic attacks and other forms of anxiety and stress. This extends to those with physical disabilities that would hamper their movements in quickly moving to a place of safety as well as to those with ailments, such as cardiac and respiratory conditions, where the realisation of a bomb threats have been known to result in cardiac seizures, and elevated blood pressure levels.

But there is even another very important downside to such acts as a bomb threat which have recently been targeting government offices, apart from places of educational endeavours which also affect students in terms of scholastic hours lost.

It is accepted without any debate that every such disruption inevitably results in the immediate cessation of official duties that goes toward serving the public, thus impeding the mandate of the state giving vital public services. This accrues not only in lost man- hours, but also in dollar value. Further, although it is a given that most of such a category of threats are hoaxes, it is mandatory that all such reports be taken seriously, while concomitantly attracting the same immediate, prompt and vigilant action from the relevant state security apparatus, in terms of departments such as the police and its bomb squad and investigators, and of course, the Guyana Fire Service. One is certain that such a scenario would also attract the stand-by of other vital services such as the state medical facilities and the army. All these interventions are about time and man- hours and will carry a hefty cost to the state.

There is an understanding and knowledge about bomb threats that may be unknown to the general Guyanese public: that a bomb threat or scare, as far as is known, even as a hoax, is about the threat to set off an explosive that will result in either damage to property or loss of life or injuries to persons, irrespective as to the actuality of such a device. Therefore, in all practical understanding of bomb threats and other related acts, for whatever ends/causes, are a source of public terror, and do elicit such a great fear from many citizens whenever and wherever these occur. Principally, it explains why it attracts very heavy judicial consequences in many countries.