– Jordan calls on gov’t to do better by their relatives

FINANCE Minister Winston Jordan on Friday called on the government to do better by the relatives of the three Linden men who lost their lives back in 2012 during unrest in their community.

The men, Ron Somerset, Shemroy Bouyea and Allan Lewis, were all shot dead on July 18, 2012 during unrest in the mining town of Linden over a proposal by the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government to hike electricity rates there.

Minister Jordan made the call while wrapping up the 2019 National Budget debate on Friday night in the National Assembly, amidst claims that one of the members on the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the unrest was paid more money than the total payout made to the families of all three victims.

This is in addition to his announcement last Monday during his presentation of the national budget that monies have been set aside for the erection of a monument in the town in honour of the Linden trio.

Following the findings of the Linden CoI, it was reported that the estate of Lewis was awarded $3M; that of Bouyea, a 24-year-old Linden Technical Institute (LTI) student $3M as well; and that of Somerset, who was just 18 when he died, $1M.

Said Minister Jordan when issuing the call for more compensation on Friday:
“I am asking my section here to revisit the compensation that was given to those people; they were unarmed people protesting for their rights and they were killed.”

Lindeners had taken to the streets for 36 days back in 2012 to send a strong message to the then administration that they had no intention of bowing to the pressure imposed on them by way of a hike in electricity tariffs from $5 per kilowatt to $65.
During the unrest, the entire township was shut down, while main roads were rendered impassable.

Several government buildings, among them a school, were gutted by fire, while public roads and bridges were also destroyed.

The CoI into the incident would later conclude that the bullets which killed the trio came from the guns of law-enforcement officers.

Only recently was it made public that Bouyea’s mother is in dire need of help, as she currently lives in a dilapidated apartment under very inhumane conditions.
Several persons have since joined a drive to rehabilitate her home.