…Lindeners remember their martyrs: killed for protesting

By Naomi Marshall
Lindeners, on Saturday, paid homage to three of their citizens who were ‘gunned down’ while protesting the PPP/C’s government’s imposition of an electricity tariff hike on their community which was, for years, left impoverished.

The killing occurred on July 18, 2012. The Linden Martyrs’ Eighth Anniversary was observed with a memorial service at the Linden Martyrs’ Monument, located at the July 18 Memorial site, just a stone’s throw from where the trio was killed.

Giving remarks was the Mayor of Linden, Waneka Arrindell, who said that July 18, 2012, will be forever etched in the minds of Lindeners- a day when peaceful protesters Shemroy Bouyea, Allan Lewis and Ron Sommerset were fatally shot, and many injured, by the Police.

“It is the day Lindeners stood against a regime that had intended to place its knee on the neck of a town that was already feeling the pangs of unfair democracy and economic instability. Lindeners united for 33 days in a peaceful protest against the administration and, in the light of it, lives were lost and our people were impacted but we stood together,” Arrindell recalled.

She noted that Lindeners were protesting for their survival, since the PPP/C government, at that time, was attempting to increase the town’s electricity rates, even though its economic activities were low. She said that citizens of Guyana should never again have to choose losing their lives while protecting their human rights. Arrindell went on to say: “We are facing a strange time right now but please, let us show the country and the world the true meaning of one people, one nation, one destiny. Let them look to Linden for role models on how to stand tall in the face of adversities, let them see that a united people can overcome any obstacle and tragedy. Just like those who stood their ground in the past, we must let those who seek to oppress us know that Linden does not bow, Linden will always stand as one, for united we stand and divided we fall.”

In an invited comment, Former Parliamentarian, Vanessa Kissoon, expressed that Lindeners must never forget the “dark days and many sufferings” they would have faced under the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic’s (PPP/C’s) regime. Kissoon noted that it was a time when the Lindeners of all ethnicities, religious and political affiliations, went out to the streets in numbers to protest, peacefully, against an injustice that was being forced upon them. She reminisced on those “dark days” stating that it was a time when mothers, wives and children were all fearful of never seeing their fathers, husbands, brothers, nephews and cousins, again after leaving home to go practise their human right of protesting peacefully.

Kissoon said local and national leaders must ensure that the ‘Linden Martyrs’ get their due recognition, adding that Lindeners must always remember the names of the Martyrs, Shemroy Bouyea, Allan Lewis and Ron Sommerset, for their history must not be forgotten.

“Never again must a people have to suffer at the hands of their own Government and so we the people must ensure that we get justice by never allowing the PPP/C to ever return to Government and gain power. We must ensure that we stand up against anyone who is trying to take us back to those dark days under an uncaring and wicked regime,” Kissoon said before echoing a chant said by Lindeners on July 18, 2012, “We Stand Strong! We Stand Together! No Retreat! No Surrender!”
Former Regional Chairman of Region 10, Sharma Solomon, in a Facebook post pointed out basic facts of the 33-day long protest. He said that the “33 Days of ‘The People’s Struggle’ resulted in the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry by the PPP/C government, which established that the State was indeed responsible for the killing of the three Lindeners and the injuring of many other Lindeners and should be held liable.

According to the Linden Commission of Inquiry, evidence revealed that, “no police officer was injured; policemen were armed with guns; no evidence that anyone else was so armed. From these factors, one can therefore reasonably conclude that the fatal shooting was done by the Police.”

The Linden Martyrs – Ron Somerset, Shemroy Bouyea and Allan Lewis – were killed on July 18, 2012 during a protest in Linden over a proposal by the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government to hike electricity rates there. The shooting occurred at the Wismar-Mackenzie Bridge during a standoff with protesters and ranks from the Joint Services where residents were, at the time, protesting the decision made by the former administration to increase the electricity tariff from $5 per kilowatt to $65. The protest was led by Vanessa Kissoon and Sharma Solomon with support from religious organizations.