Acting Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell yesterday assured that a full-scale investigation is ongoing to determine responsibility for the fatal shooting of three protestors at Linden last Wednesday, even as residents locked off the township to vehicular traffic as they continued to protest against higher electricity tariffs.
“What I can tell you is that an investigation is being done at [Criminal Investigation Department] headquarters. The results will determine what happened and who is culpable, cost it what it may,” Brumell told Stabroek News when contacted last evening.
He was asked whether the ranks involved in the shooting were from Georgetown and who was in charge at the time but provided no information, saying that the investigation is ongoing.
Protestors yesterday insisted that it was Tactical Services Unit (TSU) ranks from Georgetown who fired on them. They also said that then Divisional Commander Clifton Hickens had travelled to Linden on the morning of the shooting and was at the scene up to about midday. One protestor recalled the commander speaking with protestors, who were encamped on the bridge, ensuring that there was order.
It is unclear if Hickens was still in the township at the time of the shooting but protestors told this newspaper yesterday that he was not at the scene when the ranks opened fire. Efforts by Stabroek News to get a comment from Hickens were futile.
Lindeners had come out in their numbers for the start of a five-day protest over an increase in power tariffs, which took effect July 1. By the end of the first day, Ron Somerset, Allan Lewis and Selwyn Bouyea were dead and at least 20 others were injured. Police had said that they had to resort to using tear gas and later fired shotgun cartridges at protestors, after missiles were hurled at them —an account challenged by some of the injured and others present at the protest. A post-mortem examination on the bodies of the three men yesterday determined that they were killed by live rounds.
Meanwhile, in sticking to their stated intention to effect a “total lock off” of the town, protestors yesterday maintained a barrier of tree trunks and branches at Bamia, located on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, a 15-minute walk from the entrance to the town.
Persons going to the airport or heading out of the area had no choice but to disembark the vehicles they were in and walk to the other side, where cars were waiting to transport them. A woman, who was heading to the airport, angrily spoke out about the blockage but she was ignored by the protestors, who insisted that the barrier could not be removed as they were fighting for the good of all Lindeners.
At one point, a Linden businessman pleaded with a man who appeared to be in charge of the blockage to remove just one branch so that he could drive his canter through. The businessman stated that he had animal feed in his vehicle that needed to be transported to a customer.
“Yah mean to tell me that dem animal got to starve too?” he questioned. However the protestors stood their ground and advised him that he could drive through the thick bushes at the side of the barrier. The businessman, who seemed desperate to get out of the area, eventually made his way through the bushes and ended up safely on the other side. Several other drivers made attempts but gave up eventually.
More barriers
By late yesterday afternoon, another barrier had been erected farther down and there were fears that there were plans for a third, since there were freshly cut branches at the side of the roadway at Bamia. Some vehicles were trapped between the two blockages. Mourners were forced to park their vehicles at the first barrier and walk for about ten minutes to get to the Bamia church for the funeral of Linden resident Aaron Singh. Those who could not afford the taxi fare from Bamia to the entrance to Amelia’s Ward had to foot the 45-minute journey. There is a blockage between those two points but one can drive through Amelia’s Ward and get back to the entrance. From there, there is no way to get into the town or other parts of Linden as at the Kara Kara Bridge, a barrier made out of giant tree logs is blocking the roadway. There, protestors have set up a tent, under which they were cooking a meal of cook-up rice, when this newspaper arrived. The women cooked and ensured that the area was clean while the men stood watched and helped persons across the barrier. As persons passed through, they asked for donations and some persons responded favourably
Residents were also camped out just across the bridge but access to the Wismar area is cut off. Giant logs were placed across the road to form a square, which is the area where a nightly wake is being kept for the three men killed. No vehicle can pass this point.
The only signs of law enforcement in the Linden are at the bridge. The police are at one end, while the army is at the other.
Stabroek News was also told yesterday that residents were still leaving the community. It was a small number in comparison with the other days. One of those residents said that she was leaving the area because she wanted a break. She planned to return when the protests have ended.
Burnt vehicles and other debris still litter the roads of Linden. When this newspaper passed Republic Bank, there was a line. Very few market stalls and road side shops were open. Even the nurses were feeling the pressure as many could be seen walking to and from the Linden Hospital Complex; some would have hitched a ride on a bicycle or paid for a drop on a motor cycle.
Coming together
Charles Sampson, a Regional Democratic Council member from One Mile Wismar, was not surprised at the harmony of the Lindeners. “Lindeners always come together in times of crisis,” he said, while pointing out that the current struggle is about getting justice.
Sampson, who is also a former union leader, told Stabroek News that the increase in electricity rates was an ill-thought out decision. He recalled that two years ago, the government had refused to increase rates on the Mackenzie shore. “They had so much interest in the people of this region that they refuse to increase by $2 and $3 on domestic and commercial rates, respectively, and now they are coming to tell you about hundreds of percentage increases,” he said, while emphasising that this entire episode had “political overtones.”
He noted that four years ago he brought up the electricity issue with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds. “I asked him to tell us where the people in Linden gon get that kind of money,” he said questioning where Lindeners would now find the money to pay the tariff increases.
“That matter went to bed. It was put to rest four years ago, now they come back with the same thing and things have worsened in this community. This community, this region has 80% unemployment and it is probably higher than that,” he added.
Asked if those in authority are getting the message that Lindeners mean business, Sampson said “I don’t know if they have gotten the message. It would be unfortunate and it would be very sad if they haven’t gotten the message as yet but we are serious. We are not going to move from here,” he stressed.
Another resident, Julian Elliot, of Amelia’s Ward, said that from all indications, Region Ten is insignificant. “We are having a national crisis in Region 10,” he said, while lamenting that the authorities seemed more concerned about regions Seven, Eight and Nine. “That is what is fuelling this fire because they are showing a lack of interest [in Linden],” he said.
Bullet in back
Despite the fact that a bullet is lodged in her back, Janice Burgan vowed yesterday that she would rejoin the protests.
The single parent mother, who was among those shot last Wednesday, was at the Linden Hospital, where she had gone yesterday for her daily dressing and additional medication.
Although she was discharged on Saturday, Burgan said that it was the doctor who told her that she was hit by a bullet but after three x-rays, it could not be found. The seamstress added that the injury to her back is a major setback, as she is now unable to work.
“I feel the officers wrong because we were peaceful and I still maintain we were peaceful we didn’t deserve this,” she said.
Burgan recalled that last Wednesday she was among several that were camped out on the bridge. During the morning hours, there were about 400 persons, she said, and although the police ranks were using a loud speaker, their announcements were inaudible. After the people’s chanting increased, she said the police left.
But around dusk, Burgan recalled, word reached them that police officers were returning. As a result, she along with others began walking to the end of the bridge. “While the black clothes officers coming, they start throwing tear gas—about four canisters—we couldn’t see them anymore and is then they start shooting,” she said, adding that another protestor started to shout that they should all run because live bullets were being used. Everybody, she said, started to run but by then she was already shot. One of the dead men, she added, fell near her and was bleeding profusely from the mouth. The woman said that the bullets were too numerous to count.
Despite her ordeal, Burgan said that she was going to rejoin the protest. “I have to be there even if it means that I die tomorrow, I must be in the struggle,” she added.
Officials at the hospital told this newspaper that all the persons wounded during the shooting have been discharged. Later yesterday, the mother of Dexter Scotland informed this newspaper that he had been re-admitted after an x-ray showed that foreign objects were embedded in his face.
Scotland had been discharged on Monday, although he was in pain and an x-ray still had not been done. He returned yesterday after the pain worsened, she explained, adding that an x-ray was performed and revealed “fragments” near his ear and two below one of his eyes. She said that he is to be transferred to the Georgetown Hospital today for surgery.
