President Ali pays final respects as Haresh Singh laid to rest

His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has offered his support and extended condolences to the grieving relatives of Haresh Singh, who was laid to rest today.

The 17-year-old, of Number Three Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB), was found dead on September 9, in Number Two Village back dam where he had gone on an errand.

During the funeral service for Singh, Dr Ali encouraged the grieving community to rally around Singh’s family.

The President had, on September 13, made a similar appeal for support for the grieving relatives of Isaiah and Joel Henry when he attended their funeral service at Sandy’s Funeral Home in Georgetown.

The Henry cousins, both of Number Three Village, WCB, were found dead on September 5 in the back dam at Cotton Tree Village, WCB.  They had left home the day before to go into the backlands to pick coconuts.

Singh’s murder was suspected to be an act of reprisal for the brutal slayings of the Henry cousins.

Today, the Head of State called for reconciliation.

“In memory of these young men, our focus has to be on healing, on bringing our country together, and on unifying our efforts to ensure we do not have a repeat of these incidents… We have to do these things, in addition to ensuring justice is served for these young men.”

The President said the government would do its part to foster a united Guyana.

“I can assure you that my government is going to work day and night to bring our people together, through policies and programmes, through social efforts and the merging of cultures. I think that is important in creating that Guyanese identity, ensuring that the social safety nets are there for the vulnerable in our society.”

Dr Ali also committed to providing assistance to people who were injured or affected during the protests that followed the murders.

“I have had the chance to talk with many of the persons who were injured and cannot fend for themselves because of those injuries. At some point also, we have to have the healing process there. I want all of these persons who were affected to know that we are going to connect with them, to find ways we can help as a Government,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the President in an interview with the Caribbean Times News on Tuesday said there was progress in securing external assistance to investigate the killings.

“We are going after these criminals. We are ensuring that we have every single tool available; and in those areas that we need help with, we have reached out. I am happy to report to you that we are making great progress. From CARICOM itself, we are hoping that we can have a team very shortly. We are finalising the Terms of Reference, and we signed an MOU. On the British side, we have received a very positive response,” President Ali said.

Today he reiterated that the combined forces would see the criminals brought to justice.