West Berbice businesses looted, travellers attacked

Several businesses were looted, while travellers were attacked on Friday night as unrest in West Berbice amidst continuing protests over results from last Monday’s elections.

At Rosignol, West Bank Berbice, Homeline Furnishing, Digicel and another business were looted and vandalised late Friday evening.

While the business owners were fearful to speak out, this newspaper was told that the looters escaped with flat screen televisions, cellphones, cellphone accessories, music boxes and other items from Homeline Furnishing.

In CCTV footage, the looters, who had yellow and green fabric tied around their faces, were seen trampling and breaking items in the stores. They also used their cutlasses to chop items.

The owners of the Homeline Furnishing said they contacted the police after they noticed what was happening via the cameras on Friday evening.

Homeline Furnishing’s Rosignol Branch remained closed yesterday in order to repair the damage.

Commander of Region Five Yonette Stephens said that while the police were receiving information about suspected looting, there was no formal police report filed up to yesterday.

Meanwhile, a Canje family was also left traumatised after persons at Number Five Village, West Coast Berbice, attempted to rob them.

Navendra Singh, also known as ‘Suresh,’ of Canefield, East Canje Berbice, said he was returning home with his family and other passengers from Georgetown when persons on the roadways launched an attack on them. He said a woman used a cutlass to hit his car.

Singh’s rear windscreen was shattered during the attack.

Meanwhile, another Canje family that was also returning home from Georgetown said they were stopped by some men on the West Coast Berbice Public Road. The men, who were armed with cutlasses, had their shirts tied around their faces. “Them stop the car and start lash up and then two car did coming at the back and them drive through and holla tell we to drive and we just drive,” the traumatised woman, who did not want to be named, said.

The woman also recalled seeing a young woman driving home with her two children and mother in the car. “She stop and ask how far we going and she been a cry. She had to go till to Number 77 (Corentyne) and them bruk she back windscreen,” the woman noted.

The travellers also reported that there were no police in that area where the armed men were present at that time. The ranks of Region Five were deployed to the various

Looters in Homeline Furnishing

Navendra Singh’s car after the attack

protests in the region at the time.