Two Cedros fishermen, who are quarantined at the Cascadia Hotel in St Ann’s, are claiming that they were taken there two weeks after being beaten by Coast Guard officers.
Hackim Mohammed, 25, and Kavir Maharaj, 30, of Icacos Village, are calling for an investigation into the incident which occurred two Thursday’s ago.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mohammed recalled that last Thursday around 6 am they were fishing about 200 feet from land near Chatham when the Coast Guard vessel pulled up to their boat.
He said the officers accused them of coming from Venezuela.
He said they were taken to the shore where they were beaten by about eight officers.
“They real beat us with their hand, the gun, they stamp on us, they put the gun in our mouth, all kind of thing. Why they do us that, we are just fishermen. They say we drop off people on the land which is not true. The Government not seeing what the Coast Guard is doing us. Something is wrong,” Mohammed said.
Mohammed, who claimed they still have bruises from the beating, said they were then taken to the hotel.
However, he said they have since tested negative for COVID-19 and they want to go back to their families.
“We are a little nervous we don’t know what is happening,” he said.
Maharaj’s mother Yasmin Maharaj, said her son’s two young children and his wife are missing him.
“They just beating people children which is very wrong. Why they quarantine them. I want them to release my son.” she pleaded.
Another Icacos fisherman, Ken James, complained that last week Saturday he, along with five crew members, were fishing about a minute away from the shore in Cedros when around noon the Coast Guard intercepted his vessel.
He claimed the officers told him they had information that they came from Venezuela.
“That is not true. I was fishing right outside Icacos. It had two other fishing vessels and they did not do them nothing,” he complained.
They were then detained at the base and only released around 10 pm.
As a result, he had to discard $15,000 worth of fish which remained in the boat.
Three days later, he said, the Coast Guard informed them that they had to quarantine in their respective homes for 14 days.
“This is not fair. I want to know who minding these families for 14 days,” he complained.
Guardian Media contacted Coast Guard public affairs officer Lieutenant Khadija Lamy for a comment, but up to last night, none was forthcoming.