Baksh assures government moving to establish Army base
FISHERMEN on the Essequibo Coast are calling for a previously promised Army floating base to be established at the mouth of the Pomeroon River without further delay.
They made the call in light of another pirate attack just off the sea coast at Cozier last Sunday morning. Responding, Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Ali Baksh, speaking at a meeting in Charity on Monday, said that government is working aggressively to set up the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) outpost.
He said the government has moved to help fishermen and responded quickly to Sunday’s assault, noting that there was a response from the Police at Charity and the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).
However, owner of the fishing boat that was robbed, Mottielall Mohabir known as ‘Romel’, of Paradise Village,  maintained that the military station is needed urgently, so that the Coast Guard could provide security to fishermen at sea.
According to him, his boat, with four crew members fishing at sea, came under attack. The captain of the vessel, Sase Narine Ramlagan telephoned and related what was taking place.

HOT PURSUIT
He said he and three others were pulling up their seine when they saw another boat approaching them. They quickly hauled in the net and headed for shore, with the other vessel in hot pursuit.
Ramlagan said the men in the pursuing boat looked  like pirates and were sailing at full speed towards them, when their boat got stuck in sling mud. They took pieces of boards and hurriedly started to paddle towards land but the attackers overtook them, took away their fuel, foodstuff and catch.
The pirates, who were not masked or armed, cursed them as they left the mudflat, the captain related to the Guyana Chronicle.
Meanwhile, Mohabir informed the police at Charity and the Coast Guard/Maritime Division.
He said, while the police had reacted speedily, he had to hire a boat for some $200,000 to swiftly rescue his workers from the Atlantic Ocean and the mud in which they were mired.
Police, subsequently, arrested some men in a boat that looked like the one involved in the piracy, although they were later released.