Moruga fisherman laid to rest amid screams, tears

Louise Dover, wife of murdered Moruga fisherman, Victor Wilbert “Salaam” Alexander, sat on a standpipe yesterday weeping uncontrollably, as the remains of her beloved passed by in a hearse. “Oh God, Oh God!” she screamed, as she was consoled by close relatives, friends and fellow fishermen. Scores of villagers gathered at Alexander’s humble La Lune Village home in Moruga to pay their last respects to the dead fisherman. Alexander was abducted and subsequently murdered last week Tuesday around 11.30 am by four armed and masked Spanish-speaking men, while fishing off the Moruga coast along with three other fishermen, who managed to be rescued hours after the horrific ordeal. While Alexander’s body lay in a black patterned coffin, which was put under a brightly coloured tarpaulin, mourners were heard whispering, “Why did Alexander have to go like that?”

“Life is so unfair. One minute could mean so much — life or death.” “Who next, God, who next,” yelled another as he paced up and down on a nearby pavement. Meanwhile, a grief-stricken Dover, who remained sitting on the standpipe, reluctant to sit near her husband’s coffin, cried, “Oh God, Alexander, you gone and leave me, although you are gone, you are the love of my life. I will still remain faithful to you because I know that you will always be here with me.” Although their father was killed by pirates while on duty, Alexander’s five sons, Andy and Sheldon Guerra, Allan and Mozo Alexander, and Cowen Noel, promised to resume fishing next week as it is their only means of income. They wished, however, that something could be done urgently by the Government to prevent any more incidents of piracy in TT waters.