Gunshots, noxious substance mar NA after-Mash bash
By Daniel DaCosta
Stabroek News
March 4, 2003
New Amsterdam’s after-Mashramani bash on Sunday was again marred by the spraying of an offensive substance in a large crowd of revellers and the firing of gunshots in the air allegedly by a plainclothes policeman.
The two incidents which occurred shortly after 5:30 pm sparked a stampede along Main Street and forced the police to call a halt to the playing of music on the road. Last year the revelry was also hit by the spraying of a noxious substance referred to as “bass” and several robberies were reportedly perpetrated by visitors from the city.
Thousands of revellers from the capital, East Coast Demerara, West Coast Berbice and East Berbice had earlier converged on the main thoroughfare of this usually sleepy town transforming it into a sea of vibrant colour and frolic.
From as early as mid-morning they began to crowd the street which was lined with stalls offering alcoholic beverages and food for sale. Many were accompanied by their children who came out to see the three floats which were on parade. The three were Rayon House of Fashion’s award winning Costume Float, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport’s Float and the Regional Costume.
A large contingent of vendors peddling clothing, footwear and accessories invaded the main shopping area from as early as Thursday occupying every available space along and around Pitt Street.
Their presence attracted mixed reactions from Berbicians with some cashing-in on the numerous bargains they offered while others, including businesspersons, complained about the congestion they created and the blocking of their entrances and showcases.
The parade of the Floats and Costumes began at Tacama Turn in Stanleytown and moved along the main thoroughfare before converging at the National Psychiatric Hospital at Fort Canje where another party erupted. The revelry there culminated sometime after 8 pm.
Some concerns have been raised over the hospital being used as a venue for parties pointing to the fact that mentally ill patients are housed there.
As has become the norm, the main activity during the afternoon street jam was the widespread imbibing of alcoholic beverages.
By dusk the majority of revellers were in very high spirits gyrating to the sounds of several sounds system including the city-based Mingles Sound Machine.
It was Mingles that drew the crowd outside Evil Eyes Electronics Store as hundreds jammed the area listening and dancing to the sounds that blared from its massive speakers. Then without notice people began running helter-skelter following the spraying of a noxious substance. Shortly after, two shots rang out sending those who remained scurrying for safety.
One eyewitness told Stabroek News the shooter was identified as a member of the Guyana Police Force based in Georgetown who was in plain clothes. He was also identified by a former member of the force who was on the scene.
However the incident took a strange turn according to eyewitnesses when a member of the Mingles Band was pointed out by another police rank as the person who fired the shots. The musician was reportedly beaten by ranks before he was taken to the New Amsterdam Police Station.
Commander of “B” Division, Assistant Commis-sioner Paul Slowe told this newspaper that an investigation has been launched into the shooting. The incident, he said, forced him to stop the playing of music by the sound system, but Mingles had already decided to stop playing following the arrest of their musician.
Thereafter, many revellers left for the Berbice Educational Institute (BEI) where another sound system was entertaining the crowd while creating a serious traffic jam along the single access road.
Yesterday, Main Street was an environmentalist’s worst nightmare with garbage and broken bottles strewn along the roadways which appeared as if they had been ravaged by a storm.
Businesspersons expres-sed the view that criminal elements from the city may have been responsible for the spraying of the “bass” which is used as a ploy to rob fear-stricken revellers. Several persons told this newspaper that they were robbed of jewellery and cash by criminals.
As a result of these incidents and similar cases over the years, calls are again being made for Mashramani to be celebrated in Berbice on February 23.
