Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
Worried relatives of five Cedros fishermen, including a father and son, who have been missing out at sea since Saturday, complained yesterday that the authorities were not doing enough to find them.
“I am not seeing no response so far from them (T&T Coast Guard) and that’s why I am leaning on God right now, not these people,” lamented Allison Rampersadsingh.
She was among relatives gathered at Fullerton Beach in Cedros hoping to get positive news about the fishermen’s whereabouts.
The fishermen, captain David Seepaul, 60, his son Davanan, 35, Shiva “Saucy Boy” Seepersad, 20, Braiyer Gonzalez Ali, 21, and Jeremiah “Coco” Pasqual, 19, left from Fullerton Beach aboard a fishing vessel named Amanda after 4 pm on Saturday.
They were expected back either Saturday night or early Sunday morning. When they failed to return home, Rampersadsingh said they reported them missing to the Cedros Police Station, and the Coast Guard was notified.
However, another relative claimed they were told that the two Coast Guard vessels at the Cedros base were not working.
Seepaul’s son-in-law Marlon Sookoo said their disappearance has been especially difficult for the family, since they are still grieving for his (Sookoo) son Matthew, 14, who fell off a boat and died three years ago.
Sookoo was among the fisherfolks searching for them. “On Monday, I took a boat and went searching for them or to see if anything was floating but didn’t find anything. This is very hard for me. Next month will be three years since I lost my son right outside the jetty,” Sookoo said.
He said he searched in an area near Venezuela, where they sometimes fish, but found nothing.
“We know they went to work and we were expecting a call from the Guardia Nacional in case they held them because they were across by that side. We were expecting to get a call but we didn’t get a call,” he said. He admitted that his biggest fear was that they were attacked by pirates.
Ali’s aunt, Chamin Ali-Mohammed, who has Venezuelan ties, said she reached out to her contacts in that country, but they were also in the dark.
“They haven’t seen anything, no one,” she lamented. Remaining positive that she would see her son again, Seepersad’s mother Parbatee said she was lighting deyas and praying for safety.
Lamenting that her brother, Seepaul, suffers from epilepsy, Rampersadsingh said, “All we need right now is just help and support from anybody we could get it from and we would really appreciate that.”
However, Rampersadsingh complained that they have not received any response from the authorities.
“I am not seeing any response so far from them and that is why personally I am leaning to God right now not these people, to God because we not seeing anything. We not getting anything from them really,” she said. Deputy Siparia Mayor and Cedros councillor Shankar Teelucksingh said he contacted the Coast Guard and was told an investigation and search are ongoing, but he could not confirm whether the vessels were working.
“But based on history, these are some of the issues that are coming out of the Coast Guard. Just a few months ago, we had a similar experience where fishermen were lost at sea and the fishing association had to take matters into their hands to get the vessel drifting off the Soldado Rock area.”
He said there were two interceptors at the Cedros Jetty, but questioned whether they were equipped with radar equipment to search for the fishermen beyond the border points.
“Also, I do not know if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a call to the Guardia Nacional to have a search across in the Venezuelan waters. These are some of the questions that remain unanswered,” he said.
Meanwhile, a response from the T&T Coast Guard was not forthcoming last evening.
