CRITICAL statements taken from at least 24 Joint Services ranks who operated in the Upper Berbice River area, in Region 10 during June 2008, are yet to be submitted to the Commission investigating the Lindo Creek Massacre, despite several requests.
On Monday, when Rear Admiral Gary Best, who was the Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) during the period, appeared before the Commission, the CoI Chairman Justice (Ret’d)Donald Trotman asked of him to use his “good offices” to help retrieve those statements.

After reports flooded the local newspapers with allegations that the Joint Services was responsible for the Lindo Creek Massacre, Best, on June 25, 2008 ordered an investigation into that allegation. Major Andy Pompey had spearheaded the investigation and handed over his report to the then Chief of Staff. According to Best, a copy of the report which suggested that the miners may have been victims of a deadly robbery or may have been killed because they were suspected to be informants of the Joint Services, was also handed over to the then Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud. He noted, however, that the statements which were given by the members of the Joint Services were all handed over to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to assist with their criminal investigation.

Justice Trotman informed Best that for some time the Commission has been requesting those statements. He questioned if the GDF had kept copies of the statements and was told no. “At the moment it is puzzling to the commission that those transcripts are eluding the commission although they have been requested. And, there does not seem to be any indication that they are being made available to the commission to find out the truth of the circumstances surrounding the deaths,” Justice Trotman said during the public hearings.
Best committed to using his “good offices” to assist in locating the documents but maintained that they were handed over to the police. Roysdale Forde, the attorney who is representing the interest of the GDF, told the Commission that the legal team working on the case also requested the statements from the Guyana Police Force, but is yet to receive same.