Government spokesman Dr. Roger Luncheon yesterday all but ruled out the demand by Region Ten Chairman Sharma Solomon for the Commission of Inquiry (COI) in the July 18 protestor shooting at Linden to be based in the mining town.
“I don’t believe it’s Solomon’s preference that dictates these matters but I will note his request,” Luncheon told reporters following a post-Cabinet press briefing at Office of the President (OP) yesterday.
It was announced that the five-member commission will be based in Georgetown and would travel to Linden as needs be. Solomon had objected to this arrangement, saying that he would insist that the commission sit in Linden, where the actual crime took place.
Luncheon, when questioned by reporters, said that all the commissioners—Retired Chief Justice of Jamaica Lensley Wolfe, Jamaican senator and Senior Counsel K.D. Knight, former Trinidad senator and Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal, former Chancellor of the Judiciary Cecil Kennard and former Justice of Appeal Claudette Singh—have confirmed participation.
He, however, could not say when the three regional commissioners would be arriving in Guyana to start the inquiry. He noted that before they arrive, certain formalities, such as staffing and the identification of the location, among others, have to be sorted out.
Speaking on the agreed Terms of Reference for the COI, Luncheon said that the there will be no signing of it as was in the case of the Linden economic development agreement.
Lindeners on July 18 began what was supposed to have been a five-day sustained protest over government’s proposed electricity tariff increase. However, three men, Ron Somerset, Shemroy Bouyea and Allan Lewis, were killed and at least 20 others were wounded after police opened fire on protestors near the Wismar/ Mackenzie Bridge on the first day of the protest.
