Manchester police hunt gunmen after Bellefield school shooting; produce fines and Guyana inquiry also in focus

Manchester police are hunting gunmen who opened fire on three men outside Bellefield High School on Sunday, leaving two hospitalised and a third with bruises.

Detectives from the Manchester Police Division say the men were among a group at the school entrance about 5:00 p.m., waiting to watch a football match, when attackers struck and fled. Two victims were shot in the face and shoulder and taken to Mandeville Regional Hospital, where they were admitted; the third was treated and sent home.

In the St. Catherine Parish Court on Monday, Marvin Rodney of Linstead and Herman Golding of Clarendon were each fined $100,000 or two months in prison after pleading guilty to breaches of the Agricultural Produce Act. Rodney was charged with failing to have a receipt; Golding with failing to issue one. A third accused, Wayne Beriff, pleaded guilty with an explanation but did not appear, and a warrant was issued. Beriff had driven the vehicle in which four bags of cassava were found.

Presiding judge Desiree Allain cut the original $200,000 fines after an attorney’s application, telling the men the court was being lenient given a maximum fine of $3 million. The court heard that on March 25 police stopped a vehicle driven by Beriff, with Rodney as a passenger, along the Time and Patience main road in St. Catherine and found four bags of cassava valued at $50,000. Officers asked about a Rural Agricultural Development Authority receipt. Rodney said he had bought the cassava from Golding in May Pen, Clarendon. Rodney and Beriff were arrested; Golding was later taken into custody when he arrived in Linstead. All three were charged after question-and-answer sessions.

In Clark’s Town, Trelawny, police are seeking four armed men after a Sunday morning robbery sometime after 8:00 a.m. The suspects entered a small store and took an undetermined amount of cash. When their getaway vehicle would not start, they hijacked a van from a passing motorist. No one was hurt.

Guyana’s President Dr. Irfaan Ali has named a five-member Commission of Inquiry into last weekend’s MV Barima tragedy. Jamaican Captain Hamada Foda, a senior maritime surveyor and compliance auditor with the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, joins maritime experts from Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, and Poland. The death toll from the capsizing of the 87-year-old vessel, struck by a wave while travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma in the Barima-Waini region, has risen to 72. Ali said the panel will examine the circumstances of the sinking and the emergency response. Its terms of reference include establishing what happened; reviewing search, rescue and recovery; determining whether negligence, misconduct, dereliction of duty or other failures contributed; inspecting the vessel’s condition and maintenance history; and recommending legislative, regulatory, institutional and operational reforms to strengthen maritime safety and emergency preparedness.

Separately, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management is reviewing regulations on how shelters are staffed and equipped. The issue arose at last week’s Public Accounts Committee meeting, where chairman Julian Robinson said shelter managers face heavy pressure with limited agency resources ahead of disasters, leaving MPs to plug gaps they are not prepared to fill. ODPEM director general Commander Alvin Gayle said the agency is working with the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development on pre-positioning. He said a review of shelter regulations is under way, that outside the season shelters are managed through that ministry, and that municipal corporations were asked to assess needs before the hurricane season. After a delivery cycle ending July 31, ODPEM will again ask corporations what they require, noting those bodies also have their own remit.