During
the spiraling crime wave since the Mash Day 2002 jailbreak
residents at Strathspey Railway Embankment, East Coast
Demerara, were forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge
in other villages.
Some
ten families packed up and left the village after they were
robbed and terrorized by bandits.
Three
houses were broken down and taken elsewhere after several
incidents of robberies rocked the neighbourhood. Some
residents endure severe beatings from armed bandits while
others lost most of their worldly possessions.
Recently,
when the Guyana Chronicle visited, all the houses along the
Railway Embankment at Strathspey were locked up while some
were missing zinc sheets, doors and windows.
One
resident told this newspaper that his home was robbed last
year August by armed bandits, who tied up his two relatives
for some three hours and carted off with household items,
clothing, a water pump, bicycle, groceries. They even helped
themselves to bread and butter as they were terrorizing the
victims.
Most
of his material possessions were stolen.
Soon
after the incident he emptied his house and moved away to ward
off any further attacks.
The
cash crop farmer said that one day he returned only to
discover his crops were poisoned
and zinc sheets on roof of his house, wooden doors and windows
missing.
Presently
he is living at a relative's in a nearby village and has to
seek other ways and means to earn a living, since his crops
were destroyed and venturing to his home was dangerous,
considering it is only a stone's throw away from the troubled
village of Buxton.
"They
(bandits) took away 15 zinc sheets from my house.
It is empty, yet they broke the locks and entered. Living here
was terrifying. We plan to move back into our home because we
have nowhere else to go," stated the man.
Another
resident related that she comes to check on her house
sometimes and even the fruits are missing.
However,
Strathspey Railway Embankment remains a ghost town.
Friday,
January 09, 2004
