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alexk
Guest
Forestry Division workers are calling for better security at the San Fernando Hill following a spate of robberies—the most recent being on Monday when three employees were robbed at gunpoint.
The traumatised workers have embarked on a go-slow action to protest their unsafe working environment.
Neil Baxter, a handyman, who has been working at the Hill for the past 17 years, complained that neither workers nor visitors are safe.
“Right now it is not safe for anyone here. Sometimes visitors come to the administration office to report that they got robbed. Some people don’t make a report to the police. But workers are scared. We are calling on the Minister of Agriculture and the Forestry Division to do something,” he said.
Baxter said 12 workers, comprising checkers, handymen and cleaners, work at the Hill. He recalled that around 9 am on Monday a man walked into the administration office, pointed a gun at three female employees, and robbed them.
The man escaped with their cellphones, $30,000 in jewelry and $1,200.
“About five minutes after the man walked in, he saw the girls coming out crying. The man ran through one of the trails and escaped,” said Baxter.
He said the latest incident has been reported to the police, the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW), the Ministry of Agriculture and the Forestry Division.
“We have no proper security and we have been begging and pleading with the Forestry Division to install proper security here because people have been robbing the visitors and now they robbing employees. There is also a play park at the Hill and people come with their children. We need cameras installed and proper security.”
Baxter said they have also asked that the three female checkers be relocated to the Forestry Division in Pleasantville. He commended the police officers from the Mon Repos Police Station for doing regular patrols on the Hill.
Contacted via WhatsApp Messenger for comment, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat said they were presently reviewing the security at the Hill.
“Part of the problem lies in the poor performance of some of our private security providers working in public spaces. That is currently under review,” said the minister.