The shooting to death of three Lindeners during the July 18, 2012 protests against the then government’s proposed electricity hike for the mining town will remain forever etched in the memory of loved ones and fellow demonstrators.
Ivan Lewis, 46, of Wismar Housing Scheme; Ron Somerset, 18, of Amelia’s Ward and Shemroy Bouyea, 24, of Wisroc Housing Scheme, who was described as mentally-challenged, were shot and killed by police while they protested at the Wismar/Mackenzie Bridge.
Whilst the events of July 18, a decade ago, remain just as “fresh as day” in the minds of those who stood as witnesses, others are still seeking answers. Scores of residents yesterday gathered at the Linden Martyrs Memorial Park and Monument Site at Burnham’s Drive Wismar, Linden to pay homage to the three men who died. Earlier in the day, relatives visited their burial places and paid tribute in a wreath-laying ceremony. For the Lewis family, his sister, Denise Lewis, explained that coping over the years had been very hard with family members’ having to step up to aid in the care and guidance of Lewis’ sons. A tearful Denise said “our brother was brutally murdered. I am so upset about this thing, I am hurting at this moment; nothing so far, to me, can compensate for that. Whenever done, nothing can replace my brother’s life…it is not easy,” was her brief comment to this newspaper at her Wismar Housing Scheme home.
She recalled that over the 10 years, there were many occasions when the family wished her brother was present but they will never ever experience that opportunity again. She also stated that he was a great supporter, not only to his sons but to his siblings. She recalled that apart from assisting financially, he would aid in maintaining her yard, something she has to spend money on now. “Talking to you… its tearing me apart… it is not easy. It has been 10 years but is like it just happen today… Like I just can’t describe how the years went by,” she lamented. It has been a similar situation for the Bouyea family. His mother, Jacqueline Bouyea, has been severely affected and while she can still do a few things for herself, she is not independent as she would have wished.
In a frail state, while waiting on transportation to attend her son’s memorial and remembrance, she says, “I miss he every day and when his birthday comes around I miss him even more.” Bouyea said she was relieved of her job following her son’s death since she could no longer effectively function. Her son’s death had also taken a toll on her mentally and physically. “I still seeing meh child in front of me…I was at work and didn’t had a phone at the time but my sister come and tell me… it hurts so much but I cannot do nothing but remember him,” she quietly said. She is now supported by her children and sister.
During a Commission of Inquiry in 2013, Margaret Somerset, the mother of Ron Somerset said that her son’s death forced her to leave the country. Stabroek News had reported Somerset saying that prior to her son’s death, he worked at an electronics store in Linden. He earned a weekly salary of $15,000, out of which he would contribute $10,000 towards their household. Three days after her son was buried, Somerset said, she packed her bags and moved to Suriname with her two grandchildren. She said that she never planned to move to Suriname before Ron died. “I went to Suriname to ease the stress,” she had explained to the CoI.
Lifetime’s wound
Meanwhile, several persons who spoke with this newspaper during a visit to the township yesterday, related that they had a lifetime’s wound to remind them of the struggle. For Hughes Stephen, an elder in the township, he has a pellet behind his left eye to serve as a reminder while Ray Willis, who now works as a school janitor, has a healed gunshot to serve as his aide-mémoire. In a brief comment, Stephen said that he is still baffled as to what caused the commotion that led to tragedy. He stated that the protest was a planned march, they had marched to the Wismar/MacKenzie Bridge where they had a meeting and just as the meeting had concluded he heard gunshots.
“I looked up and saw tear gas in the distance. I remember ‘I went to the police and said that this is a peaceful protest nobody misbehaving’ why yall shooting but he didn’t bother with me, they continued to shoot pellets but somehow the persons that died didn’t die from pellets they died from bullets,” he said. For him, in his lonesome moments tears would flow when memories of that fateful day flash by. He, however added that he was grateful they stood together as a community and resisted the imposed power tariffs. “if the electricity had raise at that time, you see how cost of living spiraling out of control, we would have suffered that since then…it would have been out of control …” he underscored.
The protest, he added, has also opened the eyes to not just Lindeners, but others to demonstrate what can be achieved when there is unity. For Willis, he gets a reminder of the events whenever the weather changes with a stinging pain. He said he was shot in the aftermath of the initial confrontation with law enforcement and civilians. “I get shot in the Scheme because I went out looking for my children and that is where I got shot and my son got shot after he come running to me. During that time, it was pretty tense in the village because the fighting was going on both sides, civilian vs police…” the man said from his Wismar home.
He, however, kept his version of events brief as he pointed out that he gets angry and sad when talking about the unjust actions of the police. “For others, 10 years is a long time and they would say we forget about what happened, but for me who was there and who got shot, it was like yesterday. Everything still feels real when it comes up,” he said.
Regional Chairman Deron Adams, in his memorial message, said his recount of that day was not gathered from history books but rather from being there.
Cooking chowmein
“I had arrived like many other Lindeners at the Wismar/Mackenzie Bridge, to join in the peaceful protest, and we were cooking chowmein there to be distributed to those who had joined us to make our voices heard for the benefit of all of Linden. I had only been in conversation with the late Allan Lewis for a short while before we were hit with the smell of tear gas and heard the sound of gunfire. At the time, popular Linden barber Romaine Ross was also with us,” he said.
He went on to state that by being closer to the Mackenzie shore, “Romaine and I ran towards the Mackenzie Water Treatment Plant area and sought refuge in the compound. Blinded by the teargas and almost suffocating in the billowing waves of it, as more and more of this noxious substance was thrown and blew in our direction. Dwayne Lee, one of the Guyana Water Incorporated personnel in the plant dived into the water treatment tank to escape the tear gas, and when he came up for air, he saw us huddled there fighting to breathe; a t-shirt was tossed by him, soaked and given to me to wipe my face and relieve some of the pain.” According to Adams, his experience was personal and “the events of that day are indelibly scorched into my memory.”
Following a CoI, led by now deceased Justice Cecil Kennard, a total of $8 million had been recommended as compensation for the relatives of the three men. However, in 2020, the families jointly sued the state for $150 million each but the State in a counter agreed to pay a total of $77 million to the affected families. According to the court orders seen by this newspaper, the estates of Bouyea and Lewis were to receive $25 million each as compensation, while the estate of Somerset was to receive $27 million.
The settlement came almost five months after the families of the dead men filed the wrongful death suits in which they contended that the men were deprived of their fundamental right to life and sought over $150 million in damages for each life lost. But relatives who spoke with Stabroek News yesterday said they have not received any compensation to date from the state.
