Encourage children to become critical

‘We have to protect our women and children’

–– says Bartica Mayor, as the town grapples with a recent case of domestic violence

ON Friday evening, the t o w n o f B a r t i c a w a s plunged into a state of shock, after a 37-year-old woman was brutally killed by her husband at the town’s airstrip.

In expressing condolences to the woman’s family, Mayor of Bartica, Gifford Marshall stated, “On behalf of the municipality, the Town Council and the councillors, I want to express my deepest sympathy and condolences to the deceased’s family.”

Describing what transpired on that evening as a traumatizing event, Mayor Marshall stated that he has full confidence that the ranks of the Bartica Police Station and the commander-in-charge will investigate and ensure that the perpetrator in the case will be prosecuted to the full extent

of the law.

“What transpired on the evening of that day traumatized all of us and we can understand, with much pain, what the family is going through. With that being said, we have every confidence that the Bartica police and the commander will investigate and bring the [perpetrator] to justice. I am certain justice DEAD: Natoya Speede

will prevail in this matter” he stated.

In an appeal to the general public and those who may be in similar situations, Mayor Marshall stated, “In these situations, actions have consequences and the consequences many times don’t just affect the individuals involved but it affects the entire community like what we see is happening now and I want to use this opportunity to call on our males to let us respect our women and let us treat them as our mothers, our sisters; let us treat those who we love the way we ought to.” Adding that persons should report matters of domestic violence or seek counselling to avoid such violent outcomes, Marshall stated that persons can overcome any domestic challenges through conversation, mutual respect and love which, he believes, is the foundation of every relationship.

“Any challenge or any crisis can be overcome through mutual dialogue, through respect and through the foundation of any relationship which is love. We can’t afford to have our women being murdered, we can’t afford for them to be abused, we can’t afford for our children to grow up in communities without parents,” he stated.

He further added that it is the children who are left to mourn, and who are the victims in the current situation. “In this particular case, we have two children….what they experienced on that day is with them for life and we can’t afford for our children to be having those experiences as that can cause major breakdown in our society and our morals.”

Natoya Speede, the woman who was brutally murdered, was a schoolteacher and a mother of two. According to reports, around 20:00hrs on Friday the suspect took the woman and her two children to a desolate area along a trail leading to the Bartica airstrip.

On the way, the two were embroiled in an argument

and the assailant attacked the woman with an axe. The woman’s two children fled the scene.

The suspect was later found with what are believed to be self-inflicted wounds, in an alleged attempt to kill himself.

The man was admitted to a hospital in Region Seven and remains under police guard as investigations are ongoing.

Keep our frontline workers in prayers – as they combat COVID-19 pandemic

WHILE many have the option of remaining home or working on a shift/ rotation system during the outbreak of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, there are those who have to remain on the frontline to ensure that the general public remains healthy, safe and informed.

Nurse Bobb (only name given), a nurse attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), stated that the general public should show some sympathy to healthcare workers during this critical period.

“Nurses, we are at the frontline, we don’t have a choice, so I mean they should at least be sympathetic to us …I can’t step back from the fact that this is the career that I chose,” she stated. Bobb and several of her co-workers have faced some grave stigmatization since Guyana has recorded its first case of novel coronavirus, earlier this month.

In expressing her disappointment with the stigmatization and discrimination nurses and doctors have faced, the nurse stated, “it’s kind of appalling that this is how the general public are treating the healthcare workers that they still have to turn around and ask for help at the end of the day.”

She added that nurses and doctors cannot adjust to the current shift/rotation system set up in the various work environments which makes it even more frustrating for them. “You know how they are doing the whole shift system now, you work you stay home you work. I’ve been working overtime, like I’m tired but I still have to come to work because I can’t leave the patients undone because they are still sick patients coming,” the young nurse stated.

Meanwhile, an officer attached to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) who requested to remain anonymous stated that he has been keeping himself up-todate by following stories and articles from international media outlets about the Covid-19 pandemic and, while he is sympathetic to the patients, he is also sympathetic to the first responders who have to work tirelessly during the outbreak.

The officer who is stationed at Timehri added that during this health crisis, frontline workers like himself should be kept in prayers since they do not have the option, like other persons with traditional jobs, to stay home.

“We don’t have the option like other people, we are first responders, we still have to go to work. We still have to be at the airport. We still have to be guarding the borders. We still have to make sure that Guyana and its people are safe,” he stated.

He added that during this health crisis, not only Guyanese but persons everywhere even those who are not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic should stand in solidarity with the doctors, nurses, police officers and firemen who are constantly working around the clock during the health crisis.

Additionally, the man stated that he now has a profound respect for reporters and journalists as they too have to work during the pandemic to keep members of the public informed of what is occurring around them.

“Even reporters they have to keep working to get the story and to get the facts so that they could tell the public more about the virus and how to keep themselves protected,” he stated.