Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana Riding on the Crest of Truth
Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:01 by GxMedia
An East Coast Demerara businessman’s vehicle that was shot during an ambush by bandits. Cecil Gajadar survived but his employee, Vincent Da Silva, was shot dead and GUY$8 million stolen.
The city business organisation wants the police force to present its strategy at a seminar scheduled for August 13 to sensitize the private sector on best practices for businesses to secure and protect themselves.
“We are hopeful that the Guyana Police Force can participate in this seminar so as to share its strategy for addressing the recent upsurge in violent crime that is calculated towards the business community,” the GPF said.
Chief of Criminal Investigations, Deputy Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud on Tuesday said the recent wave of multi-million dollar robberies was not the work of an organised gang. His comments came less than one day after Monday’s robberies on Akbar Auto Sales on North Road, Steve Cheong’s Rubis-branded gas station on Vlissengen Road, and the deadly invasion of Fuzzy’s mini-mart in Guyhoc Park. Persaud said that based on intelligence being gathered and persons being captured, the bandits are not members of one gang.
The GCCI also urged business persons to take precautionary measures to ensure that they have adequate security infrastructure and procedures in place to reduce the likelihood of their businesses being targeted. Another GCCI suggestion is for businesses to use private security services when transporting huge sums of cash and provide advice on implementing security systems and strategies.
The GCCI said it was “alarmed and unsettled at the number of robberies being perpetrated on city businesses and businesspersons.”
“There is a spike in armed and violent criminal acts that is directed towards the business community in the past few months and which has intensified as of late,” said the chamber.
The GCCI called on the police force to respond to vigorously and effectively in apprehending perpetrators of those heinous crimes.
The chamber wants the police to dedicate additional manpower to businesses to prevent robberies from occurring and respond promptly when crimes are reported to the various police stations. “Failure on the part of the GPF to do so would only embolden criminal thugs to intensify their assault on our businesses,” the GCCI added.