Dear Editor,
If what is being leaked from the Linden Commission of Inquiry report is accurate then it is fair to say that life is Guyana is very cheap. The Commissioners it is alleged, after deliberating and assessing all of the facts concluded that the lives of three young men (in their prime) were worth a paltry $7 million, total. Allegedly the estate of 46-year-old Allan Lewis who was the sole breadwinner of his family and who had two sons pursuing higher education (sons that he supported), was awarded $3 million. In the case of Ron Somerset who was 18 years old at the time of his killing, a young man with the full potential of his life still ahead of him, his estate was awarded a mere $1 million. The estate of Shemroy Bouyea 24 years old, a student at the Linden Technical Institute, and a young man whose life held great potential and who also worked part-time to support his family, was awarded $3 million. Yes, a mere US$45,000 was all that the Commissioners felt was deserving for the loss of life of these Martyrs, men who were law-abiding citizens who just happened to be at the Mackenzie-Wismar bridge on July 18, 2012 among persons who were protesting.
Editor this award is interesting when juxtaposed against the compensation received by the five commissioners. This commission cost the taxpayers of Guyana in excess of $90,000,000 in administrative fees alone.
The Chairman, Jamaican Justice Lensely Wolfe received $16 million; Commissioner KD Knight was paid $14 million; Commissioner Seethahall received $12 million and the two local commissioners Justices Kennard and Singh each received $13 million.
The attorneys for the Commission and the Secretary to the Commission were each paid $1 million. It was widely reported in the local media that the National Assembly had approved $161 million for the work of the Linden Commission of Inquiry.
These three young men did not die accidentally; they did not die because of some mistake that was made. It is fair to conclude that they died at the hands and by the hands of the only people who had shot guns that day − the Guyana Police Force. Clearly there was no provocation and even though the protesters had blocked the Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge, to quote one of the witnesses to the Commission, “The bridge was the symbol of the struggle.”
It must be noted that what the Commissioners have awarded is not binding but a recommendation. I would hope that the Guyana government and the President do the right thing and award adequate compensation befitting the crime that was committed and reflecting the true worth to the estate of these young men who were cut down in the prime of their lives. As it stands the families of Ron Somerset, Alan Lewis and Shemroy Bouyea have been dealt yet another blow, and their quest for justice deferred.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Archer
