Despite the late hour, she walks the dusty road. She is searching, looking for her next opportunity to free herself, even if momentarily, from the shackles of the poverty in which she lives, even if it means resorting to the temporary escape from reality the smoke of a joint brings.Her name is Mary, and she is a resident of Plastic City, looking for a way to get high.Plastic City is nestled among the mangrove trees on the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, just 200 feet past the seawall in Vreed-en-Hoop, on the West Coast Demerara. More than two decades ago, many poor people who could not find a place to squat, eventually resorted to using the waterfront as their abode.When the first few settlers established their homes there, the construction was of a few sticks of bramble forming the support posts,Cheap Jerseys 2018, and plastic was utilised as walls. Since then,Air Max 90 Black And White Leather, not too much has changed, but some of the homes have managed to acquire wood and people have built much more stable structures.Almost camouflaged by the gusts of wind from the nearby Atlantic Ocean,China NBA Jerseys, Mary’s voice is a little more than a whisper,cheap nfl jerseys online, as she told her tale of her life in poverty, and her constant search after the intoxicant that she says helps to numb the pain of poverty.“I started to smoke cocaine a few years ago,” she explained, citing her pressured family ties as the primary reason she took to drug use.She said that before she had been smoking marijuana occasionally, but one night she was given a joint and she did not know that it was laced with cocaine. “It let me go,” she said, “it took me far away from Plastic City, and I liked it.”Since then she has been a regular drug user, and oftentimes when her lack of money does not allow her the freedom to purchase the narcotics she requires, Mary turns to alcohol. She explained that even as a 54-year-old woman, nowhere as pretty as she once was, she has little problem convincing patrons of nearby rum shops to buy her a drink.“I drink,” she said, “but I prefer smoking (cocaine).”Within Plastic City,Wholesale NBA Jerseys Authentic, drugs are not hard to find. In the surrounding areas of Crane and Best Road, drugs are also not in any short supply. Mary said that two ‘hits’ of cocaine could be had for $1000. With these words, she stopped a passing figure and gave him the money, instructing him to collect some ‘stuff’ for her.She told him that she would be waiting for him. And so she did. Even though she said that she trusted the man who had gone to buy her drugs, she instinctively kept on looking over her shoulder as if she was expecting to see him running away with her money.It proved that even though members of the community are well known to one another, there was no real honour to be expected. She later confirmed this, when she said that the man she had asked to buy her drugs had been known to rob people.Similarly, she noted that strangers do not wander deep into Plastic City, or even up to the seawall,nfl jerseys china, because it is simply not safe for them to do so. “This area is safe, but only if you are from around here,” Mary said.The security concern is of no concern to outsides, as simply as Mary put it, “Why would an outsider want to come into Plastic City? There is nothing here.”Effectively her words were true; not many outsiders venture into Plastic City.Even though not many other people venture into the area, there has been some governmental intervention to try to help the squatters cope with the poverty that is rife in the area. The interventions have been few and far between, but help is usually accepted whenever it is given.In July, 2007, the Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand, had visited the area near Plastic City and had distributed uniform vouchers, an effort geared at providing assistance to parents to help ensure that their children stay in school.Housing and Water Minister, Irfaan Ali too visited the area around Plastic City earlier this month, to update the squatters of the Ministry’s plan to regularise the squatting settlement.This, however, may not affect the Plastic City squatters anytime soon.While there have been some interventions, not much has been done to help curb the effect of drug use on the population.Concern has also been raised over the reciprocal growth in crime that drug use usually brings into an area. Mary had also explained that even the police hardly venture into the Plastic City area anymore, as if it was a forsaken area, not worth the effort to police.Police sources have said that they plan to make interventions con

…RO says nothing to be alarmed aboutSecurity concerns have been raised with the establishment of a grocery store in the same building that houses the Skeldon Post Office on the Corentyne.Kaieteur News visited the location on Monday afternoon just as the post office,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, located just next door, was closed for the day. However,Nike Air Max 1 Mens Cheap, the shop remained opened for business.The Skeldon Post Office and the grocery shop that operates in the adjoining portion of the building.Sources close to the Skeldon Post Office have revealed to this newspaper that many in the area have questioned the presence of a shop being housed in the post office building. Also, questions have been raised about the safety and comfort of those employed in the post office since the grocery shop was opened last week for business.“The post office is more hot now, since the breeze is being blocked from the shop that is operating nearby,” said the source. It was also stated that “people from the community troubling the employees asking them ‘that y’all open shop now’”.The source went on to say that a grocery shop being housed in the same building as the post office is not a thoughtful idea, security- wise,Supply NFL Jerseys Factory, since the high crime rate these days can result in the shop being a target for bandits. This was highlighted given the fact that the post office deals with large amounts of cash on a frequent basis, and the bandits would have a double-target in the same building and as such, the employees of the post office are at risk.Kaieteur News contacted the shop owner, Bob Singh, who, when asked questions, became rather defensive. He stated that he was being leased the building by the Postmaster of the Skeldon Post Office for the past 2 1/2 to 3 years. He refused to say how much the building is being rented for and declined to answer any further questions.When contacted, too, the Postmaster stated that “I really can’t talk to the press– I just work at the post office, so he (Bob Singh) can’t say I rented it (the building) to him”. He forwarded further queries to the Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Post Office Corporation, Yolaskee Jarvis, who, when contacted about the matter,Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping, said that she was fully aware of the building being rented to a private individual and that it is “quite normal” for the GPOC to rent, since the corporation has to generate its own revenues. “Many of our offices,Wholesale Jerseys China, we rent and we do have business entities operating in the building or adjoining the building, for example, Parika (Post Office), Bourda and our Head office in Georgetown.” She added that Skeldon Post Office has been rented for “a while” although the tenant did not occupy the building for some years, “they have been paying the rent for awhile but not occupying”.“If they have opened a shop, they would have done so with our knowledge. It’s quite okay for a business entity to rent from us. Since the government gives us no subvention, we need to generate our own income and it’s quite okay for us to rent spaces to business entities.”Speaking about safety concerns since the post office can be more a target for bandits, the PRO stated that “it’s quite legit and persons in the area need not be alarmed”.“From experience, since we would have been operating entities like this throughout Guyana– in Bourda, we have quite a few business tenants from hairdressing to barbering; at Parika, sales and haberdashery and other items and these offices have not really been targeted…I can understand persons being concerned,Cheap Jerseys China, but the necessary precautions would have to be taken and of course, the post office takes precautions to protect itself and they (the precautions) remain in place so business can continue as usual.”

A spent shell from a 9mm pistol, which was recovered at the scene of the shooting of Nicholas Hoyte called ‘Ziah’ in Alberttown has matched another found at the Safraz Bar in Kitty.This was revealed to Kaieteur News by a reliable source at the police Criminal Investigations Department.The match has caused investigators to now turn their attention to a clear link between the two incidents which occurred just four days apart.Nicholas Hoyte called ZiahThe detectives now have a few more twists to unravel.First they will have to establish if Hoyte’s killers were the same men who stormed the bar killing the waitress and wounding two other persons. They will also need to clear up if Hoyte fired at his killer before he was killed.Kaieteur News understands that investigators impounded Hoyte’s car after the incident to check if any spent shells were inside.However, according to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud, who was contacted yesterday, no weapon was found inside the car.But the Crime Chief did indicate that Hoyte’s hands were swabbed and tests are being conducted on the clothing he was wearing at the time to ascertain if he returned fire at his killer.On Friday January 8, three men, two of whom were armed with handguns,Cheap Jerseys Wholesale, attacked and robbed patrons and staff of Safraz’s Bar and Restaurant at Lamaha and David Streets in Kitty.According to the police,Cheap Jerseys Online, initial investigations revealed that the three men entered the nightspot and held up the patrons and staff. The men proceeded to rob several persons of their jewellery, cash and cell phones,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, in addition to the proceeds of the day’s sales from the bartender.While the gunmen were on the premises, some of the patrons managed to run to safety at the back of the building.However, Kulmattie Singh, a waitress, was not so lucky. Singh was reportedly trying to assist patrons to safety in a room at the back of the bar when she was shot almost at point blank range by one of the gunmen.Australian Jason Montgomery, 36,Nike Tns Sale, was shot in the abdomen, while Ronald Dhanraj, another patron, was shot under his left arm.Police had detained several persons for questioning but they were subsequently released.Crime Chief Persaud said that although, there was some video footage from the bar, it has not yet proven to be very helpful in terms of positively identifying the perpetrators.There were also reports that the killing of Nicholas Hoyte was also captured on surveillance cameras in the area. However, according to Persaud, although there were cameras around, “what is available did not cover the incident.”Hoyte was sitting in his motor vehicle when another car drove up alongside. A number of shots were discharged at Hoyte from the vehicle, which struck him about the body,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, and the car sped away.He? was rushed to the GPHC where he was pronounced dead on arrival.No one has so far been arrested for his execution.Meanwhile, the Crime Chief disclosed that investigators are seeking a suspect in connection with another execution-style killing that occurred on January 9.In that incident, Vibert Weeks called ‘Vibee’ was gunned down in Robb Street,Cheap Jerseys Free, Lacytown.