Black Immigrant Daily News

A 32-year-old man was on Tuesday stabbed to death by a colleague during a row over marijuana.

Dead is Shirwayne Underwood of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

The incident occurred at around 03:00hrs on Tuesday at Policeman Corner, La Parfaite Harmonie. The suspect, a 29-year-old resident also of Parfaite Harmonie, has since been arrested.

Reports are that the duo were imbibing when they had a misunderstanding over marijuana.

In a press release, the Guyana Police Force explained that “it is alleged that the suspect told the now-dead man that weed was “bush weed”, and as a result, the suspect dealt the now-dead man a punch to the side of his head and a fight ensued.”

During the fight, the suspect whipped out a knife and dealt Underwood a single stab to his abdomen.

After being stabbed, Underwood ran a short distance away before he collapsed. He was picked up in a conscious state by public-spirited persons and rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he later succumbed to his injury.

The suspect, who made good his escape from the scene, was later arrested at about 06:20 on Tuesday.

He was escorted to Parfaite Harmonie Police Station, where he gave a video-recorded statement under caution, admitting to the crime.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

REAL NEWS: Complaints continue to come in from police officers who have fallen sick and are unable to get proper medical treatment because of the inadequacy of their insurance.

Ironically, a source says, quite often these ailments are work related.

It is acknowledged that private healthcare in Antigua and Barbuda is expensive.  Accordingly, police officers should be able to access free medical treatment at the hospital.

However, a female officer complains that, very often, the hospital’s equipment is out of service or the facility is simply unable to conduct certain tests.

The officer reports that some of her colleagues go without treatment or the proper medication, because they are unable to afford it, given that many of them are living from pay cheque to pay cheque.

Without a savings account or someone who is able to assist financially, police personnel end up suffering, the officer charges, and there are too many in the Force, at present, who are sick and not receiving the proper treatment.

Reportedly, this year alone, several officers have died, the source says.  She notes that, last year, a policeman was killed in the line of duty, while another suffered an on-the-job accident and later passed away.

Having full medical insurance would create a significant sense of ease for officers, the source continues.  They would then be able to visit a private doctor, present their card, and receive treatment that would allow them to return to their job of serving and protecting the Nation, the source says.

Another challenge that officers face is being reimbursed for payments for medical care.  Based on the law, the source claims, officers expect to be repaid some portion of their out-of-pocket medical expenses.

However, she says that a number of police officers have been trying to get their reimbursement from the Treasury – for years – without luck, with one senior officer being owed more than $7,000 and unable to collect.

In this regard, the officer says, full medical insurance would make it much easier on the Government, since there would no longer be a need for reimbursement.

Given the situation, officers are calling on the Administration to take better care of them since they put their lives on the line daily and do not have risk allowance.

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File photo courtesy Trinidad and Tobago Fire Services

A group of villagers and fire officers rescued a hunter from a forest in Guayaguayare after he was accidentally shot on Tuesday afternoon.

Police said the 26-year-old man went to hunt with a friend on the Main Field Road, Guayaguayare when, at around 4 pm, he heard a gunshot and felt a burning in his arm hand and face.

He realised he was shot and called his friend for help.

The friend tried to bandage the man’s wounds and carry him out, but couldn’t because of his weight.

He left the wounded man in the forest and asked for help from villagers who, in turn, made a report to the Mayaro police station.

Villagers and fire officers walked two miles into the forest before they found the wounded hunter at around 10.35 pm.

He was taken to the Mayaro Health Facility and later transferred to the Sangre Grande Hospital.

Mayaro police are investigating.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The High Court has ordered that the MT Tradewind Passion, the ship that crashed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge last month causing extensive damage, be released to its owners subject to conditions. It also granted an order for limited liability of GY$245.5 million to be underwritten.

Making this order was Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln. Attorneys-at-Law Sanjeev Datadin and Donovan Rangiah represented the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) as the claimant, while the owners of the ship, the defendants, were represented by Attorney-at-Law Kamal Ramkarran.

Justice Corbin-Lincoln ordered that permission be granted for the defendant and Canama Trading, a Panamanian company that owns the ship, to argue limited liability as a defence against the property damage claims.

It was also ordered that a limitation fund be created through a letter of undertaking, in the sum of $245.5 million. The order states that once a copy of the letter of undertaking from the ship’s underwriters is received and a notice of receipt issued by the Court Registrar, the ship will be released into their custody. The original letter of undertaking by Steamship Mutual Underwriting must be lodged by November 25, 2022.

“The claimant, its servants and agents are hereby directed to allow and facilitate the defendant vessel to return to service and leave Guyana forthwith upon receipt of notice of the Constitution of the limitation fund as ordered,” the order states, going on to threaten that failure to comply with the directives will result in the party being held in contempt of court.

A letter of undertaking from Steamship Mutual and a Notice of Receipt from the Court Registrar, both dated November 11, 2022, were seen by this publication.

The October 8 collision rendered the ageing DHB structure inoperable for several days and resulted in billions of dollars in damages.

It also resulted in injuries to Shift Supervisor Andy Duke, who had to jump from the lookout tower, an act that resulted in him fracturing his leg and being hospitalised. The other men who were working at the bottom of the bridge, including Mechanical Maintenance Engineer Ahmad Khan, had to run for their lives.

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill had said that repairs to the Demerara Harbour Bridge following Tradewind Passion’s collision, had racked up a bill of over $1 billion, which the owners of the vessel will be liable for.

A Board of Inquiry (BoI) had meanwhile recommended, among other things, that the vessel’s pilot be suspended for 24 months and the implementation of International Collision Regulations/Conventions to which Guyana is a signatory.

According to the BoI, the probable cause of the collision of the vessel with the DHB was as a result of the bridge teams’ exclusive reliance on the contract pilot’s incorrect navigational direction, and their total reliance on looking at the bridge and disregarding alarms of the electronic system on the vessel as it approached the bridge.

The BoI found that the captain failed to assume command of the vessel in a timely manner and manoeuvre it safely into the channel and through the transit, that the passage plan provided adequate information for safe navigation of the bridge zone but was not properly executed and monitored, that at the time of the collision MARAD had no oversight of river pilots; hence the safety of vessels’ operations beyond the southern limits were not guaranteed.

It was also found that there was no clear path of communication on the vessel’s bridge as the inquiry found several persons were giving commands at the same time, thereby contributing to chaos on the bridge and that the vessel was not equipped with a bow thruster which could have enhanced its manoeuvrability, thereby steering it away from the DHB or alternatively reducing the impact of the collision.

The seven-member BoI further found that the contract pilot was known to have an arrogant disposition and was oftentimes very difficult to communicate with. “This is similarly reported as being the general disposition of the Master of Tradewind Passion, yet no reports nor warnings, disciplinary actions were taken against either party.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

A Venezuelan man has killed a Guyanese miner during a dispute over the man’s fiancée.

Dead is 37-year-old Ravindra Alfred, a miner who resided at First Street Kaneville Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara.

The incident occurred at Sand Hill Backdam, Cuyuni River (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), after the Venezuelan alleged that Alfred was having an affair with his fiancée.

Police said Alfred and the suspect were associates and worked in close proximity at Sand Hill Backdam. It is alleged that Alfred had an intimate relationship with the suspect’s fiancée, a Venezuelan national, for some time.

Alfred’s mother, 61-year-old Indra Singh, reported to the Police that on November 13 at about 09:00h, she and her son were in their mining camp at Sand Hill Landing when the suspect’s fiancée arrived and had breakfast with them.

The woman said that the suspect’s fiancée and Alfred left the camp, en route to the Backdam.

Singh said that on Monday at about 09:00h, she went in search of her son, who had not returned from the backdam. The woman said that she was then informed by several workers that her son’s motionless body was found at Sand Hill Backdam with injuries.As a result, she called the Bartica Police Station and reported the matter.

Police in a statement said that they arrived at the scene and the motionless body was seen, clad in a white T-shirt, brown three-quarter pants and barefooted.

The body was examined and a laceration to the left hand, gaping wounds to the left side of the head above the ear, the face extending from the top lip to the right eye, and the right-side cheek were seen.

Alfred’s body was transported to the Bartica Regional Hospital. Police said that neither the suspect nor his fiancée have since appeared. An investigation has been launched.

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