Caroni villagers burn down old post office, block road

The old Caroni post office which was used by TT Post to store documents was gutted by protesting Caroni villagers who blocked the old Southern Main Road from the vicinity of the Caroni Police Station to Washington Junction, from as early as 5 am yesterday.

The action was sparked by the kidnapping of fellow villager Shamshoon Mohammed, a 33-year-old accountant employed with the San Juan branch of Mario’s Pizza. Shamshoon is still being held by kidnappers while relatives wait to hear from them. The woman was snatched from the Caroni Community Centre on Wednesday night by two men. Spurred on by Rudy Indarsingh, a fellow villager who is president of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union, and Manohar Ramsaran, MP for Chaguanas, villagers left their homes as early as 4 am and headed to the Old Southern Main Road. A group of protestors later set fire to the old post office located at the corner of the old Southern Main Road, Caroni, which is located close to the Caroni Police Station. By the time fire officers arrived on the scene the old post office was already completely razed. The protesting villagers then placed boulders across the road and threw debris, burning tyres, old fridges and stoves across the road at all points causing traffic to come to a virtual standstill.

The protesters then sat on the road and chanted slogans calling on authorities to put new anti-crime measures in place to deal with the spate of kidnappings and crime in the country. The action resulted in more than 100 police officers from the Guard and Emergency Branch, the Port-of-Spain CID and Central Division as well as the Police Helicopter Unit, being called out to have the situation restored to normalcy. It took about five hours to clear the debris and restore order. A frustrated looking ACP (Operations) Oswyn Allard, who arrived on the scene shortly after the protest action began, pleaded with villagers to maintain law and order. He was told by enraged villagers that they are fed up with the crime situation and they now felt their safety threatened with the kidnapping of fellow villager Shamshoon Mohammed. ACP Allard assured the residents that the police were doing their best to solve crime, and called on them to obey the law.

While ACP Allard was speaking with residents, another group continued to defy lawmen by burning tyres and throwing fridges and stoves across the road. Police officers were forced to hustle to different locations to prevent defiant villagers from continuing the action. Fire officers were also called out to assist in extinguishing the fire. Indarsingh, who lives in the area, said that villagers are fed up with the crime situation. He claimed that the authorities appear to be impotent in dealing with the situation and the action will continue until something is done. Residents were also addressed by Chaguanas MP Manohar Ramsaran. Around 11 am yesterday, police officers led by Snr Supt Victor and including Inspectors Kirk, Brereton, Ag Sgt Persad, Cpls Salick and Corbette, secured the assistance of Ministry of Works employees who cleared away the debris and traffic along the old Southern Main Road was restored. Police officers yesterday introduced 24-hour patrols in Caroni to ensure that law and order is maintained. Villagers vowed to continue their action.