Families of dead Linden protesters disappointed with compensation amounts | | Print | |
Written by Kwesi Isles |
Friday, 01 March 2013 19:48 |
The father of one of the Linden protesters shot dead by police on July 18 is “disappointed” with the amount being offered as compensation for his son’s life. Twenty-four-year-old Shemroy Bouyea was killed along with Allan Lewis and Ron Somerset during a protest against electricity tariff increase in Linden which led to police intervention. The Commission of Inquiry appointed by President Donald Ramotar submitted its report to the Guyanese leader on Thursday and though there has been no official release of the findings copies have surfaced in the media. According to the report seen by Demerara Waves Online News the families of Bouyea and Lewis are to be compensated to the tune of GUY$3M while Somerset’s family is to receive GUY$2M. Bouyea’s father Clebert Duke gave his views based on the reports that have since surfaced about the compensation. “A 15-year-old boy, he’s still alive and he would still be able to earn, he was given $6M when his genitals was burnt, a 24-year-old, physically challenged to a point who in spite of disability still had the presence of mind to fend for himself and his family and in exercising his democratic right was denied life the extent to which his dependents are given $3M,” Duke said. His reference was to the case of a teenager whose genitals were burnt by the police while in custody in connection with the murder of a regional official in 2009. The court awarded the youth $6.5M which the government paid last year. Duke said he was disappointed with the compensation since it appeared as though life was not worth much. He added that his son was healthy and even if public assistance was extended to him from July 18, 2012 to cover what could reasonably be assumed to be his life expectancy the figure offered “ain’t mek it.” His sentiments were echoed by Lewis’s brother Clyde. “We haven’t seen anything in black and white, it’s just people telling us they saw it on the net but based on what I heard I’m not satisfied, if what I heard is true I’m not satisfied and I guess the other families aren’t either,” Lewis said in a brief telephone interview. Somerset’s mother Margaret Somerset migrated to Suriname shortly after her son’s funeral and could not be reached immediately. Bouyea’s mother had testified before the Commission that her son used to do odd jobs for someone in the market for $10,000 a week, half of which he would give to her to help with his two brothers aged 15 and 29. The woman explained that her surviving sons both have mental disabilities and do not work. However, the commissioners in their report said they did not believed Bouyea earned $10,000 a week and awarded the $3M figure in light of the “peculiar family circumstances.” Meanwhile, Clyde Lewis had testified that his 46-year-old brother had worked intermittently as a mason, carpenter and handyman and took care of their elderly mother Daphne but he was unable to present a clear estimate of his earnings. Asked by the commission how often his brother would work Lewis averaged about three-quarters of the year in total. The Commission also heard that Lewis financially supported his 21-year-old son Rodwell at the University of Guyana to the tune of some $50,000 a month. “We do not believe that the son, Rodwell, who attends the University of Guyana, received a monthly support of $50,000 from his father who only worked periodically. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, we feel that his estate should be awarded the sum of three million dollars ($3,000,000) …” the Commission’s report stated. In Somerset’s case the body said it was also not sold on his mother’s testimony that the 18-year-old was providing her with financial support and it dubbed her “a most unimpressive witness.” |