Sharma Solomon, Regional Chairman, Region 10, in his evidence before the Linden disturbances Commission of Inquiry can only be described as a messy and highly unconvincing performance, his remarks, now that the report of the COI, has been made public, once again exposes his palpable, shameful limitations in attempting to belittle the members of the Commission, ventured the view that they (Commissioners) applied the wrong criteria in determining the amounts of compensation to be paid to the families of the three persons killed during the standoff on the bridge in Linden on July 18, 2012. In fact, Solomon said that the criteria were flawed. Attorney General Anil Nandlall responded by saying that Solomon, a mere layman, is not qualified to second guess the decision made by the Commissioners. The AG emphasized “These Commissioners include a former Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana, a former Chief Justice of Jamaica and a Justice of Appeal of Guyana, to name only three. These eminent jurists would have together heard and determined hundreds of cases of this type during their careers and would have done so with distinction. It is simply presumptuous for Solomon and others to advance such a contention.”
If Sharma had the necessary intelligence, he would have concluded by now the folly of attempting to play politics on matters of serious and studious consideration. His political connection has clouded his thinking as he goes further into criticizing the COI for not dealing with events prior to July 18, forgetting or deliberately ignoring that both opposition parties insisted that the Commission must not inquire into the events preceding July 18. This would have opened a whole new set of damaging evidence, which both parties needed to avoid.
Sharma’s alluding to events prior to the disturbances in Linden must be viewed therefore as completely misplaced. It is difficult to describe someone as a nincompoop, but Sharma is certainly qualifying to earn that title. His latest gaffe is suggesting that the families of those killed in Linden on July 18 could sue the government.
Ok then, Mr Sharma, what about suing all those who initiated and planned the uprising, including himself.