FOLLOWING the fiery protest action by residents of Agricola, Greater Georgetown, on Thursday, a man and four women, all activists of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) yesterday detailed their experiences in which the man was robbed and beaten, while the women were stranded and had to seek refuge when obstacles were thrown on the roadway and then set afire, preventing the free flow of traffic.

At the PPP’s headquarters, Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown, yesterday, the party’s Media Coordinator, Romel Roopnarine, told reporters at a press conference that PPP Central Committee Member, Majeed Hoosein, was singled out, attacked and robbed on Thursday afternoon, while was on his way home from work, by an angry mob of protestors.
He told the press conference that at about 16:30hrs he was stranded at Eccles and was on his cell phone talking to a family member when a group of about 10-15 persons descended on him.
Hoosein added that he was lashed in the head and chopped on both hands and had his cell phone taken away by the protestors.
They asked him what he was doing there and said they had instructions from several members of the opposition to rob and beat Indian people.
He said that he observed several women being robbed of valuables also, but could not do anything and managed to escape from the gang to safety.
He told reporters that the doctor told him he had concussions and cuts to his hands and head which were heavily bandaged yesterday.
The PPP organiser stated that from his experience, the protest action was well orchestrated and premeditated, since the gang was moving from Agricola to Eccles randomly robbing mostly “Indian people” including women.
Hoosein said, “Protestors were armed with cutlasses as they advanced upon the police and they also hurled bottles and other missiles at the lawmen while setting tryes and other things alight.” He saw hundreds of people, including women and children, stranded walking aimlessly from Agricola to the city.
Meanwhile, the women, Chriseandreana Persaud, Nirmela Govinda, Priya Rooplall and another young lady, who out of fear did not give her name, said they were all stranded after work and classes at the University of Guyana.
The women individually talked of their ordeal as they scampered from the traffic to a safe place, seeking refuge at the homes of several relatives and friends, and reaching home during the early morning hours yesterday.
They recalled seeing many people being robbed and beaten but could do nothing to assist since they too were trying to get out of the long lines of vehicles to the city.
They were all on their way home when protestors blocked both carriageways by igniting tyres and other things which stopped traffic and left hundreds stranded on the roadway for hours.
The women yesterday told the press conference that they believe the protest was well planned, because only “certain people” of East Indian ancestry were targeted by several groups of protestors, who had shirts and vests wrapped around their faces and were armed with cutlasses, among other things.