Police are probing the torching of a minibus in which employees of GWI’s disconnection crew was travelling in on Thursday at Buxton, East Coast of Demerara.
During a press conference today, Managing Director of the water company, Dr. Richard Van West-Charles related that his staff initially visited the area on Wednesday but had an altercation with the suspect identified as Dexter Todd who confronted the team with a cutlass. The crew left and revisited the area on Thursday to complete the work.
It was after completing their work, Todd who was a short distance away, set the bus on fire, forcing them to flee.
“As the crew completed their work, the individual moved towards the bus and started spraying a liquid onto the bus from a soda bottle and the liquid basically was gasoline. He began throwing the contents into the vehicle also and then lit his cigarette lighter and set ablaze the vehicle,” Dr Van West-Charles related.
It is alleged that the yard which the GWI service was disconnected is that of Todd’s child’s mother.
The vehicle belonged to a private company and discussions are ongoing to having it replaced.
The GWI’s crew members managed to escape without injury and the matter was reported to the police.
The Managing Director described the incident as “lawlessness” and noted that it would not deter the work of the company. He disclosed that there have been several attacks against workers in the past but the incidents are frequent on the East Coast of Demerara.
The company has since put systems in place to have police or private security presence in villages considered as “high risk.”
