– says Dr Luncheon

GOVERNMENT is satisfied with the progress of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI) with spokesman Dr. Roger Luncheon stating that the Administration is confident that the current level of public support for the process would, ultimately, provide closure for the period and the incident of the death of the renowned historian.

Speaking at his post-Cabinet briefing in Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Georgetown, yesterday, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) said Government’s view is that the ongoing hearings before the three Commissioners continue to be a source of revelations for Guyanese at home and in the diaspora.
“The ongoing inquiry to bring closure to this painful episode in the lives of Guyanese inspire commendations as daily, witnesses after witnesses, recount details of that period.”
Dr. Luncheon disclosed that the grant of immunity from prosecution seems to have been unnecessary, since this privilege has not been used to any extent to facilitate testimony.
“Witnesses have volunteered and others have favourably responded to being summoned by the Commission,” he noted.
He lauded the media coverage of the hearings ranging from the press, radio, television and Internet and, often time live, as being comprehensive and extensive.
Dr. Luncheon disclosed: “The Administration’s expectation is that the ongoing proceedings, as they evolve, would generate the demand for answers for clarity and that demand would only enlarge the numbers of witnesses at the inquiry and thus contribute to its objective of bringing closure to that period and that incident.”

(By Clifford Stanley)