THE Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Linden fatal shooting yesterday received from Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Marlon Gentle,

DSM, reports into the causes of the fires that had consumed the Linmine Secretariat and the PPP/C Linden office on July 18, 2012.
At the time, Gentle was being cross-examined by Attorney Latchmie Rahamat, representing the interests of aggrieved property owners during proceedings of the CoI. He was asked questions relative to whether he had known or had received any oral or written report that fires had destroyed properties in Linden on July 18, 2012. Rahamat sought the fire chief’s recollection of activities and reports on the day in question, and also asked what time he had received specific reports on the activities from Linden.
Gentle give details of the reports he had received on the day in question, and made mention of receiving the first report of a fire in Linden — at the Linmine Secretariat at around 11.00 pm. Asked about the origin of the fire and the damage it had done, he told the commission that a detailed report from the investigators had been presented, and that copies would be furnished to the commission upon request. He could not give the cause of the fire, but indicated that the building was totally destroyed.
Under cross-examination, he mentioned a second fire that had occurred at the PPP/C office in Industrial Area, where the interior of that building and its equipment were destroyed, and said that fire had been brought under control.
The fire chief detailed the activities of his ranks on the day in question. He said his men were denied access to the fire scene after protesters had blocked the five-corner to Washer Pond Road, thus the first fire had completely destroyed that building.
Asked if he knew who had owned the damaged property, he replied in the negative and was told that the Linmine Secretariat was owned by the Government of Guyana.
Gentle was released until the resumption of the afternoon session, when he returned to present to the commission the detailed reports of the two fires.
The report stated that the fires at Linmine Secretariat and PPP/C office in Linden on July 18th were caused by anonymous malicious persons.
Attorney Rahamat turned her line of questioning on the procedure of the investigation, which was patiently outlined by the fire chief, who was released finally.
Two others were called to the witness stand to give evidence under cross examination.
Alicia Barker, a mother of four children, had left her home at about 5.30 pm in search of her 15-year-old son, Eon Barker. She went to the Wismar/Mackenzie bridge from Half Mile in Wismar.
She told the commission that on arriving at the bridge, she saw a large crowd, and some people were sitting while others were playing football and still others were singing. She said she sought her son’s whereabouts from neighbours and relatives, and was told that he was on the Mackenzie shore, so she proceeded in search of him.
She confirmed that the crowd on the bridge was large, and that persons had been ‘going up and down the place’. As she was approaching the bridge, she said, she was greeted with a canister of tear smoke.
“I seen a line of policemen, some with long guns, and I turned back,” whereupon she saw two small children looking for their parents, and she took control of them since they were all likewise in danger.
Barker said the tear smoke began burning as she and the two children began running to the Wismar (western) end of the bridge. She recalled that when she had reached the centre of the bridge, she felt a nip in her left leg, and told the children to run for their lives as her right leg commenced burning.
Barker indicated that she made it to the end of the bridge, and sought refuge behind a snackette, but was forced out by another canister of tear smoke; she eventually made it to the roadway, where she stopped a taxi and sought medical attention at the Wismar Hospital. She was treated by a sister outside the complex, since there was no staff present, and was instructed to seek other medical attention.
She then took a boat across the Demerara River, and charted her way to the Linden Hospital Complex, where she encountered difficulties in accessing the roadway to the hospital despite speaking to the divisional traffic commander, who refused to assist. She then went to the McKenzie Police Station, where she met the E&F commander, Senior Supterintendent Clifton Hicken, and made a report to him. He took the cellular number of the taxi driver and instructed the ranks at the location to render her assistance.
On arrival at the hospital, she was treated and admitted overnight. The next day, she obtained a medical examination and was told that the medical practitioner had not the experience to remove the round in her leg, so she sought attention at a city hospital.
Barker told the CoI that she received laser treatment and had the round removed at a hospital in Berbice. She presented a detailed account of her expenses and bills to the commission.
The other witness to testify was Michael Roberts, a miner who said he was at the Mackenzie Bridge awaiting his wife, who works at the Wismar Magistrate’s Court. He said the boat service had ceased operating and the protesters had blocked the bridge from vehicular traffic, and that his wife and the magistrate were walking towards the bridge.
He recalled that he arrived at the bridge at about 11:30 hrs, and was under a tent which was erected against the Linmine fence. He noted that the area had a lot of persons.
He told the commission that he was about 80 feet from the bridge when he heard that the police had arrived. Shortly after, the police were greeted by a crowd of unruly protesters who advanced toward them as they retreated to avoid an encounter.
Roberts said he returned under the tent with others, until at around after 5:30 pm, when the police returned for the second time.
He noted that he never heard the police making any announcement, or seeing them with any banner with instructions, since the large crowd was in front of him and tear smoke was the order of the day.
He told the commission that he ran to the gate at the Linmine Secretariat fence, and went through that gate to a distance of about 10 feet when he saw a man fall. He said he continued running towards the shed.
He recalled that on arrival at the shed he made an attempt to return for the fallen man, who had earlier been under the tent with him, but he saw a policeman raising his hand and he felt a hit on his jaw.
He said he indicated to his wife that he had been hit, and she accompanied him to the hospital, where he was treated.
While taking cover after being hit, he met a woman name Jocelyn Dow, who through a contact assisted him to have his dentures replaced, and made an appointment for him to see Minister Westford, through whom he received financial assistance from a group at the Pegasus Hotel.
The commission will continu
e working today, when Ronald Lewis who took photographs which were tendered yesterday will continue being cross-examined by attorneys for the commission and police. The proceedings are slated to commence at 09:30 hrs.