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friday, may 31, 2013 | guyanatimesGY.com
bridge openings
The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Friday, May 31, from 10:00h to 11:30h. The Berbice River Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on Friday, May 31, from 09:25h to 10:25h.
Weather
Countrywide: Cloudy to overcast conditions can be expected with intermittent rainfall and thundershowers over some coastal regions and areas in Regions Seven and 10. Elsewhere, partly sunny conditions can be expected with brief isolated showers. Temperatures are expected to range between 22 degrees Celsius and 33.5 degrees Celsius over coastal areas and near inland locations. Waves: Moderate, reaching about 1.8 metres in open waters. Winds: North-easterly to easterly at zero to 10 metres per second, gusting at times over some areas. High Tide: 09:19h and 21:49h reaching maximum heights of 2.64 metres and 2.60 metres respectively. Low Tide: 15:14h reaching a minimum height of 0.85 metre.
Rohee upbraids police for shoddy investigations
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n one of his more stern rebukes of the Guyana Police Force, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee on Thursday criticised the organisation’s poor investigative work, saying that a number of probes have fallen through the cracks as a result of the incompetence and apathy of ranks. Rohee has increasingly been showing a greater level of intolerance of the poor work being done by investigating ranks, and only last week urged the force to speed up the probe into the murder of Sheema Mangar. In recent times, police have lost a number of murder cases in the High Court, owing mainly to poor investigation. To their further embarrassment, last week two suspects – one of whom was charged with the murder of Police Corporal Romain Cleto – were freed after the Director
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Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee
tively of Sideek. The minister said the Jumans insisted that Sideek was murdered, noting that they received conflicting reports concerning the progress of the investigation into his death. Accordingly, the Home Affairs Ministry wrote to the DPP requesting a status report on the investigation. Subsequently, he said the DPP advised the ministry that her chambers requested the file on the murder case after reading of Juman’s untimely demise in the newspapers. The DPP, Rohee said, declared that the investigation conducted by the police was severely lacking and the file, therefore, was returned to the police for further investigation.
Incompetence and apathy
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Murdered
Dead: Sideek Juman
of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Bibi Shalimar Ali-Hack found the cases against the men were lacking. In his statement on Thursday, Rohee added that he wished to register his dissatisfaction with the pace of the investigation into the death of Sideek Juman, whose body was found in a swimming pool at the popular Double Day Hotel, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo on November 19, 2012. Rohee said during the month of April, he met with Farida and Marzaban Juman, the mother and uncle respec-
“Trying to determine the progress made by the police in response to the instructions from the DPP, the Ministry of Home Affairs formally wrote to the Commissioner of Police (acting), Leroy Brumell to which it was revealed, by way of a letter received by the ministry on 24th May, 2013, that the DPP returned the investigative file again to the police, highlighting the critical issues that needed to be clarified and accordingly demanding further investigations into the death of Mr Sideek Juman.” “This investigation, unfortunately, seems to have been hampered by incompetence
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud
and apathy displayed by the investigative ranks within the premier criminal investigative institution in Guyana. This attitude is not an isolated anomaly, but is symptomatic of an organisation that does not seem to appreciate that failure to resolve serious crimes swiftly, comprehensively, and efficiently paints the Guyana Police Force in a negative light,” Rohee charged. He said the Home Affairs Ministry anticipated that decisive action would be taken by the Guyana Police Force to satisfy the conditions detailed by the DPP in order to facilitate a dignified resolution of the Juman case. Speaking with Guyana Times on Thursday, Juman’s uncle stated, “to my understanding the police still is investigating the case, since the Director of Public Prosecutions got involved”. He revealed that there are still pressing issues yet to be sorted out by the authorities, and presently the family are still awaiting information. He pointed out that the police have been somewhat slow in solving the case. The family noted that despite them offering a reward, no one came forward with any information, so the reward was withdrawn. “He is not a person who would visit that place,” said the uncle. The family said police might still be in contact with one of the friends who were with Sideek on the day in question.
Relatives of Sideek have long contended that he was murdered. Officers at Leonora Police Station, West Coast Demerara had responded to the call from the hotel’s proprietor that a body was discovered floating in the swimming pool by staff. Police upon their arrival cordoned off the scene and summoned undertakers from the Ezekiel Funeral Home. Within a few minutes, Juman’s motionless body, clad only in a pair of brown beach trunks, was pulled from the pool. None of his personal belongings were discovered. No marks of violence were visible but foul play was not ruled out. During a telephone interview, the hotel proprietor, Rabindra Bhola had said that Juman was seen the day before with friends at the poolside imbibing alcohol, after which he purchased a pass granting him admittance to the pool. The hotel owner related that activities at the pool ceased around 19:00h. The staff then cleaned the area, but there was no sign that something was amiss. The 20-year-old Juman, a mechanic, resided with his parents at Blankenburg, West Coast Demerara. According to the dead man’s aunt, the family also do not believe Juman visited the Tuschen hotel to swim, as he was not a swimmer and did not even like such activity. She had explained to this newspaper that her nephew was a devout Muslim and was not the type to indulge in drinking sprees. She said the hotel is claiming that Juman was in the pool in the company of friends, but when the family asked to review the security tapes to determine the identity of these friends, the hotel could not provide such footage. She said staffers told relatives that the facility does not have a surveillance camera at the entrance of the building, only in the reception and pool areas.