Paddy trucks set on fire as Hopetown protest escalates

Two trucks carrying paddy were set on fire Tuesday morning by protestors at Hopetown, West Coast Berbice.

Residents in the area have joined to protest the gruesome murder of teens Joel and Isaiah Henry at the weekend.

One eyewitness told the News Room that this was done in the presence of ranks from both the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force with no efforts made to stop them. A resident from the area went live on his Facebook page showing the trucks on fire and efforts being made to extinguish the blaze.

According to reports, three paddy trucks were attempting to pass Hopetown when protesters demanded that the paddy from the first truck be emptied on the roadway.

The driver of the truck complied and emptied the paddy after which protesters proceeded to set it ablaze.

The two other trucks with the paddy were subsequently set on fire.

The trucks and paddy are said to be the property of a Rice Farmer from #3 Village West Coast Berbice, the same village from where the murdered boys lived with their families.

One of the trucks is said to be worth over $12 million and were each carrying paddy worth more than $500,000.

The Police and army ranks were deployed to help clear the roadway of debris but there remain blockages at several villages along the West Coast.

This has been the situation since Sunday, hours after the battered and mutilated bodies of the boys were found.