The Commission of Inquiry into the June, 2008 deaths of miners Cedric Arokium, Dax Arokium, Horace Drakes, Bonny Harry, Lancelot Lee, Compton Speirs, Nigel Torres and Clifton Berry Wong has wrapped up its work, and is set to present its findings to President David Granger on or before Saturday, June 30.
In a release on Friday, the CoI said it had extended invitations to former President Bharrat Jagdeo; Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; and Home Affairs Minister at time of the incident, Clement Rohee, to offer information; but they all declined.
The CoI noted that the three men had all held important positions in 2008, and their names were mentioned a number of times by various persons who testified.
Victims of Lindo Creek
“In response to the Commission’s first invitation in May, 2018, all three officials, through their Attorneys-at-law, Mohabir A. Nandlall & Associates, by way of letter, responded by stating that ‘It is with regret that I inform you that my client/s will not voluntarily attend any private hearing of the Commission. An invitation to attend a public hearing may have attracted a different response from my client/s’.
A second invitation was sent by the Commission to the officials in June 2018, inviting them to submit witness statements relating to the Lindo Creek Commission of Inquiry, and informing them that consideration would be given to according them a public hearing should the Commission consider it necessary. This invitation was again declined by way of letter from Attorneys-at-law Mohabir A. Nandlall & Associates,” the statement explained.
On June 21, 2008 miner Leonard Arokium discovered the charred remains of Cecil Arokium, Dax Arokium, Compton Sp,eirs, Horace Drakes, Clifton Wong, Lancelot Lee, Bonny Harry and Nigel Torres, who all worked with him at Lindo Creek in the Upper Berbice River area.
The Police are contending that the Fine Man Gang killed the men, but Leonard Arokium is holding out that it was the Joint Services who murdered the men.
Following discovery of the bodies, a high-level team comprising acting President Sam Hinds, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, late Police Commissioner Henry Greene, and other senior Police officers had visited the home of Arokium, where Hinds allegedly tried to convince him that Fine Man was responsible for the deaths of the men.
The Lindo Creek CoI is the first of what Government has said would be a series of inquiries into the hundreds of killings which began during a crime wave that began in 2002.
The work of the commission will come to an end on June 30, when Chairman Donald Trotman is expected to submit his findings to President Granger.
