President grants 2 months’ extension

Lindo Creek CoI

President David Granger has responded to a request for additional time to wrap up the work of the Lindo Creek Commission of Inquiry (CoI), and has granted its Commissioner, retired Justice Donald Trotman, a two-month extension to present his findings.
The work of the CoI was expected to be finished on April 30, but a late start among other administrative hiccups has made it necessary for an extension of time to be sought.
The Commission, in a statement, said all public hearings, interviews and outreaches will be concluded on May 15. It added that submissions of memoranda and letters, and receipt of information from interested persons can be communicated to the Commission of Inquiry’s Secretariat, Department of Public Service, Ministry of the Presidency located at Lot 146 Waterloo Street, Georgetown.
During an earlier interview, Justice Trotman said the 10-year time lapse poses a disadvantage to the Commission, since some important persons may have died or emigrated.
Sometime between June 12, 2008 and June 24, 2008, miners Cecil Arokium, Dax Arokium, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes, Clifton Wong, Lancelot Lee, Bonny Harry and Nigel Torres were shot and killed, and their bodies burnt at the Upper Berbice River mining camp being operated by Leonard Arokium.
The Lindo Creek CoI is the first of what the coalition Government has said would be a series of inquiries into the hundreds of killings which occurred during a crime wave that began in 2002. The CoI was established to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the killing of eight miners, and to report its findings and recommendations to President David Granger.