- during yesterday’s protest on the East Coast
POLICE fired tear-gas and made arrests as East Coast Demerara residents yesterday continued to protest last Saturday’s massacre of 11 Lusignan residents.

Police said the residents had no permission to undertake their protest march, and as a result, were forced to fire tear-gas to disperse the crowd at Beterverwagting. This was after the crowd of mostly women had marched for one-and-a-half mile from Lusignan.
Police made several attempts to prevent the march from taking off from Lusignan, but to no avail.

Traffic flowed as the protesters, with no clear leader, marched in pockets along the way, calling for justice in the slayings and for change’ at the neighbouring Police station of Vigilance.

Residents claimed that apart from the Police turning up one-and-a-half hour later after their calls for help on the morning of the slayings, the Police there have always harassed them and have failed to look into their concerns.

When the march reached Mon Repos, the scene of continuous protests since Saturday, one Lusignan housewife borrowed a bell from the private school – Urmilla Institute – to add to the shouts for justice. Police had fired tear-gas at the protesters Monday, causing some 20 school children to be rushed to the hospital.
The woman said she was afraid for her life and she decided to join the protest so that the authorities would take seriously their cries.

When the protesters made their way to Beterverwagting, Police used loudspeakers to get them to back off and go back home. It was the only place along the route where traffic was diverted to the railway embankment.

The stand-off between the protesters and Police lasted for one hour, but when villagers at the neighbouring village of LBI lit a fire on the roadway, the Police fired tear-gas.
The Police were observed picking out two men at random out of the crowd taking them to the nearby Police station. Female officers taunted the men with expletives as they were being escorted to the Police station.

The men have since been released on bail.

Tiffany Mulchan, 11, Varshie Mulchan, 14, both of Lot 107 Annandale West; Nazeela Hussein, 39, of Good Hope and Kamla Balram 13, of Lot 407 Good Hope, East Coast Demerara were taken to the Accident and Emergency Unit after they were affected by the gas.
They were all treated and sent away.

Meanwhile, the fire lit on the road at LBI was quickly put out by the Police.

At Mon Repos, residents broke glass along the road, and Police later cleaned up with ‘coconut branches’ as makeshift broom.

All the families this newspaper spoke to, said they are unable to sleep at nights since Saturday’s mayhem.

“I haven’t slept in five days…the food has no taste…after nine (in the night), this place is like a ghost town, you can hear a pin drop,” a 21-year-old student said.
One neighbour of those killed said during the day her family feels a little safe, but once it gets dark, they become afraid.

The residents are calling on the authorities to go after those who perpetrated the gruesome killings.