Expressing disappointment that the findings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the 2008 Lindo Creek massacre are yet to be made public, relatives of several of the victims are contemplating “taking to the streets.”
Sunday Stabroek recently spoke to Jackie Arokium, Carmen Gittens and Kellisa King, who all said that they expected that by now the recommendations contained in the CoI report, which was handed over to President David Granger last August, would have been implemented.
Justice (ret’d) Donald Trotman had noted during the handing over ceremony that one of the main recommendations was that the families of slain miners Cecil Arokium, Dax Arokium, Horace Drakes, Bonny Harry, Lancelot Lee, Compton Speirs, Nigel Torres and Clifton Wong receive compensation from the state.
Arokium, who lost her son Dax, said that she was very concerned at the delay in the public release of the CoI report. “What’s causing this delay? I think that at least it is owed to us, that we know something,” she said while adding that whoever is responsible should update the relatives on the status of the report.
She noted that during a recent conversation with Trotman, he expressed the view that it is about time that the report is made public. “I need answers. After a recommendation, someone deserve to know what is the outcome. What steps are being taken…,” she said, before adding that she does not want to speculate as to why the report is not being released. “I don’t want to judge. A promise was made to us and I am expecting to hear from them…I don’t want to suspect this or that,” she noted. She later said, “It’s not about the money and those things. I really don’t care about that but I just want to see those people [those responsible] put in the slammer and that is what I call justice.”
Gittens, the sister of Speirs, said that it is about time the findings of the inquiry are officially released as those who died left behind children. “Something should be done because what’s the use we went through all this thing with the commissioner. Everything finish and we expect something should be done. It’s long overdue,” she said. She added that her brother left behind a young child who is now 19-years-old.
She said that about a month ago she along with Dax’s common-law wife went to the Prime Minister’s office seeking assistance. While they were unable to see the minister, she said, “someone in charge” told them that it was a “busy time” and that they will be contacted subsequently. To date, no one has made contact with them, she said, before adding that it was been decided that protest action will have to be taken.
According to King, who lost her father Cecil Arokium, she was looking forward to justice. “We want to know who really did it. We want these people put away,” she said.
King noted that she is left feeling “mocked.”
Though there appears to be foot dragging on follow up on the findings, she said that she doesn’t believe that the inquiry was a wasted effort. “They think that we don’t care but we don’t want to push the government…or the president but we just looking forward to speeding things up,” she stressed.
The CoI was established to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the killings of the men and report its findings and recommendations to President Granger.
The eight men were mining for diamonds at the location when they met their gruesome deaths, sometime between June 9th and June 10th. After the miners were slaughtered, their bodies and belongings were burnt.
Burnt human bones and skulls had been discovered on June 21st, 2008 by Leonard Arokium, owner of the Lindo Creek mining camp. DNA tests done in Jamaica several years later confirmed that the remains had belonged to his son Dax, his brother Cedric and the other workers.
Trotman had revealed too that has recommended that some parts of the investigation be re-opened and while noting that no one has been found culpable, he has recommended that senior security officials during the time of the killings be called upon to explain their conduct during that period.
Granger has previously said that the report raises “troubling questions” about the roles of the police and defence forces as well as the reticence of the political administration of the day to provide useful evidence to the CoI.
He assured that the report’s recommendations were being studied and “will be acted upon” in due course. Granger would later inform that the report is being perused “in detail.” He had said too that there is a lot of evidence and although there are some brief recommendations “we need to ensure that they are enforceable.”
