GDF Coast Guard member possible eyewitness
By Daniel DaCosta
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that a member of the Guyana Defence Force's (GDF) Coast Guard had observed the intrusion by the Surinamese Navy from a safe distance last Friday at Scotsburg, Corriverton through his binoculars. The Coast Guard member was stationed in the vicinity of the old stelling at Springlands at the time of the incident. According to a source, the Coast Guard member reported the details of the incident to his superiors on Friday. GDF spokesman, Captain Wycliffe McAllister was quoted in Thursday's edition of the Stabroek News as saying the army had to speak to more people before it could arrive at a conclusion about what had occurred. According to the army it had spoken to another eyewitness and the second report conflicted with the first it had received. This newspaper understands that a Coast Guard member is normally stationed at the base of the Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) on the bank of the Corentyne River. Stabroek News also understands that a video recording of the intrusion was made by a Corriverton resident, and that a copy has been made available to the Coast Guard stationed at Benab. The intrusion was reportedly recorded from the Corriverton seawall, a short distance from the Scotsburg Beach. Capt McAllister told this newspaper yesterday that he had heard of the tape but had not seen it himself. He undertook to ascertain if it was in the possession of the army. Two Surinamese naval vessels last Friday chased a passenger boat travelling from Nickerie with five persons to the Scotsburg Beach. Four soldiers then boarded a dinghy and pursued the boat to the beach, firing shots to disperse a crowd which had gathered. The passengers included three employees of Shameerah Khaton, the operator of a boat service based at Shameerah Landing a stone's throw from Springlands Police Station. Stabroek News has been informed by a source who saw the recording that it did not show clearly that the soldiers landed on Guyana's soil because the quality of the recording was poor. It did, however, show the passenger boat being chased by the two Suriname patrol boats. Also, the tape did not show the dinghy being launched, but that might have been because that could not have been observed from where the incident was recorded. The operation of the landing, which serves as a port of entry and exit for travellers commuting between Guyana and Suriname, had been deemed illegal by `B' Division Commander, Asst Commissioner of Police David George, a few months ago when questioned by Stabroek News about it. A similar landing is located in the township a few hundred yards away. Meanwhile, since the intrusion on Friday, the two naval vessels-- with markings PO 6 and PO 1--only emerged yesterday at around 10:30 am from the upper reaches of the Corentyne River. Shortly after the incident the two vessels had travelled up river and were not seen again until yesterday.
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