Miners relatives asked to submit DNA for tests today

Jamaican investigators are expected to conduct DNA tests today on the remains found at Lindo Creek last month according to camp owner, Leonard Arokium, who said he has been asked to inform the relatives of the miners.

A senior police official contacted Arokium yesterday and asked that he notify relatives to show up at Eve Leary for the tests, which will confirm whether the remains at the camp were indeed the eight men, who Arokium said had been killed and burned.

Those believed killed at the site were Dax Arokium, Cedric Arokium, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes, Clifton Wong, Lancelot Lee, Bonny Harry and Nigel Torres.

Arokium told Stabroek News last night that the remains may finally be handed over to relatives seeking closure, adding that at least that aspect of everything will be put to rest in their minds.

Arokium received official word of the DNA testing by the Jamaicans last week when an Assistant Commissioner of Police, who heads a special unit in the force, called and asked that he alert relatives of the miners. “It is not that this will answer who kill the men as the questions are still there about that. But if the DNA test is done then people can get remains that belong to them and can get some form of funeral.

Or we can just keep one big memorial service, for all the families,” the camp owner told this newspaper.

A three-man investigative team from Trinidad is currently in the country assisting in the Lindo Creek killings investigation and according to Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene, two preliminary reports from the team support the police’s theory with respect to what happened. Greene has also hinted that the suspect the police had in custody might be used as a witness.

Arokium believes that members of the joint services were responsible for the deaths of the eight miners and has said so publicly on many occasions following the June 21 discovery of bones and skulls at Camp Lindo.

The Joint Services have strongly denied this. The police have since said that ballistics tests on the spent shells discovered at the scene found that they matched one of the weapons that was recovered by the security forces from Cecil Ramcharran called ‘Uncle Willie’ and Robin Chung called ‘Chung Boy’ who were slain at Goat Farm during a confrontation with lawmen.

Police had said they encountered Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins and his gang during a confrontation at Christmas Falls on June 6. They said one of the gunmen was killed while six others managed to escape.

Shortly after this, another group of gunmen hijacked a busload of passengers on the Aroaima trail and disappeared. Police killed two gunmen subsequently at Goat Farm, located some 90 miles from Christmas Falls and arrested a teenager at Ituni. The teen was subsequently charged with the February 17, killings at Bartica. It is not clear whether the men who were killed – Chung and Ramcharran – were among the hijackers.