Scratch bombs are illegal

This after Cuffie visited Talparo resident, Sally-Ann Cuffie, 48, at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EW MSC), Mt Hope last Sunday.

Sally-Ann and her family were driving through Las Lomas, looking at the lights on Divali night, October 29, when a scratch bomb flew through the back window and landed near her six-month old granddaughter.

Cuffie grabbed for the bomb to throw it out the window but it exploded in her hands which resulted in severe burns, broken finger bones, and the loss of the tips of some of her digits.

Cuffie told Newsday he spoke to Attorney General Faris Al Rawi and Trade Minister, Senator Paula Gopee- Scoon after a Cabinet Sub-Committee Meeting on Monday and they explained that explosives such as scratch bombs were against the law, but there was a large illegal trade of the items.

“I am seeking to inform the public on the dangers of it, how to report it to the police, and to get people aware that purchasing them is illegal,” he said.

He added that he spoke to Minister of Social Development, Cherrie-Ann Crichlow- Cockburn, and she promised to arrange for a Ministry officer to visit Sally-Ann in order to determine what options were available to assist her.

Meanwhile, Sally- Ann noted that she underwent surgery on her hands last week Thursday. On her left hand, she received skin grafts on two of her fingers, and implanted steel in her index finger, which was broken.

On her right hand, she said the doctors removed some bone splinters from her fingers as well as the bone exposed when the flesh of her thumb was blown off.

She said after a week, her hands still looked “raw” and that the doctors were not very pleased at the slow rate of healing.

She added that because she was diabetic, the doctors want to wait and see how she heals before they do any further medical procedures.

Cuffie was hoping, but not expecting that someone would be willing to send her abroad to a plastic surgeon who would restore her fingers to their full use.