Mining camp slaughter…Joint Services knew camp was there – owner

Jun 25, 2008 News

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Questions continued to swirl yesterday over the massacre of eight diamond miners, whose bodies were subsequently burnt in a camp at Lindo Creek, up the Berbice River.

Yesterday, the dredge owner, Leonard Arokium, stuck to his story that ranks of the Joint Services knew of the existence of the camp and had mingled with the miners on occasions, although previous statements to the media had indicated that no economic activity was being conducted in the area.

It is unclear whether the Joint Services had warned the workers of the two mining camps in the Unamco area to leave because of the ongoing search for gunmen who were holed up in the area.

During a press conference at the offices of Kaieteur News at Saffon Street, Charlestown,
Arokium also said that he was scared for his life and was not sleeping in one place.

Using a topographical map of the area, Arokium repeated earlier statements that it was highly unlikely that gunmen who were holed up at Christmas Falls, Berbice River, would opt to escape in the direction of the approaching Joint Services team.

Arokium’s entire staff, including his son and brother, was killed and their bodies burned in the third mass killing in Guyana for the year. The bodies were discovered on Saturday by Arokium, a land surveyor by profession, who went to investigate after receiving phone calls that there was shooting at the camp.

Those murdered are Arokium’s son, Dax, 28, of Crane Place, South Ruimveldt Park; his uncle, Cedric Arokium, called Brother, 51; Bonny Harry, 50, of Zorg, Essequibo; Compton Speirs, 58, of Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara; Clifton Wong, 46, of Norton Street Horace Drakes, 36, of De Kenderen, West Coast Demerara; Lancelot Lee, called ‘Piggy’; and a youth who is reportedly from Kwakwani.

According to Arokium, it is clear that the attack on the camp was well planned and orchestrated, since his workers were hardened “bush men” who would not easily allow anyone to just enter the camp. In addition to having one shotgun, the workers were hardened men who sometimes walked 21 hours to get to Kwakwani.

Yesterday, Arokium repeated earlier claims that the killings could not have been the work of the gang that the security forces are pursuing.

The Arokium camp is situated on a mountain range, and it is unlikely that the fleeing gunmen would have travelled that area in their bid to escape, since they would have been risking running right into the arms of the Joint Services ranks who were guarding the Unamco Road which cuts through the forested area.

Using a map, the man told reporters that the Joint Services had established a base at a place called The Gate (check point) along the Unamco Road, 68 kilometres (40 miles) south of Kwakwani, up the Berbice River.

Another camp operated by a Brazilian is another four kilometres (2.5 miles) south of the checkpoint along the said road.

Arokium disclosed that his camp is another four kilometres south of the Brazilian camp, but about one mile from the Unamco Road.

The Christmas Falls camp where the gunmen were hiding out is about 15 kilometres (nine miles) further up the road and off the beaten track to the east from Arokium’s camp and further inland.

He explained that, from his estimation, when the bandits were first attacked, they would have had to use the flatlands east of his camp and across the Berbice River to make good their escape, since it would not have been wise for them to pursue a course towards his camp, which would have entailed navigating a difficult mountain range.

It would have also meant heading in the direction of the Joint Services who had sealed the road leading to and from the Arokium camp.

It later transpired that the gunmen, after eluding the Joint Services patrol, crossed the Berbice River on a makeshift raft. A source explained that five men crossed the river no later than Friday, June 13 because, three days later, they had walked the 60 kilometres to Goat Farm, where the Joint Services killed Cecil Simeon Ramcharran, called Uncle Willie and Magic, along with 16-year-old Robin Chung, called Chung Boy.

It is unthinkable that the gunmen would cross the Berbice River, kill the miners, and then re-cross to flee to Ituni.

By continuing on their northward course along the established road, they would have been heading straight into the army checkout at The Gate, which once marked Unamco property.

The fact that the gunmen reportedly ended up near Ituni (nearly 90 km. north) a few days after the initial raid strongly suggests that the escaping bandits used the flatlands, which represent a quicker route.

Arokium is adamant that the bandits would not risk a confrontation with the security forces, and would have therefore avoided any contact with the heavily guarded road that would lead them to his camp.

Another of his employees, Cedric Wong, had, on numerous occasions, been dropped by the soldiers to the trail leading to the camp. “So the soldiers had to know that the camp was located in that area.”

He said that there was an association between the soldiers and his men, who would sometimes go to the Gate for cigarettes.

He believes that it could have been a case where the ranks, having knowledge of his operations, attacked his camp and robbed his employees.

Early Sunday evening, the Police had initially told this newspaper that they had not located the camp where the charred bodies were. Mr Arokium said that this was not the case.

A party of policemen, accompanied by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh and other medical personnel, left the coast to investigate the report of the killings. Mr Arokium provided them with a guide, who once worked at the camp.

Mr Arokium said that the Police accused him of wasting their time by sending them with someone who did not know the area. He said that they began to insist that he accompany them.

“I told them that I was sick and that I could not go with them, so I sent another man to show them where the camp is,” Arokium explained.  

Arokium said he was told by this man that they discovered the camp at 15:00 hrs on Sunday.

He said that, late Sunday evening, he received a call from a senior Police officer, who appeared to be angry that they had not located the camp, telling him that they were led to the wrong place. 

Later on Sunday evening, the Police retracted that statement and indicated that the camp was indeed located. Police Commissioner Henry Greene said that the lack of timely communication led to the problem with Mr. Arokium in the first instance.

The Joint Services team located the remains of the eight diamond miners in the camp. Dr Nehaul Singh, according to the Police, did not climb the mountain to the camp.

Speculation remained rife yesterday as to how the miners met their end.
The Joint Services are insisting that the men were slain by fleeing gunmen who were being pursued by the Guyana Defence Force Special Forces Unit. The other theory is that the miners were mistakenly slain.

Mr Arokium believes that his crew was slain between Friday, June 13 and Monday, June 16, in what he believes was a case of robbery and murder.   The pathologist is still to pronounce on this.

However, the men might have been killed earlier, since, according to Mr Arokium, he had not made any contact with them for some time. But he said that a man who traversed the area informed him that he spoke with the miners no earlier than Thursday, June 12, and learnt that they had planned to wash diamonds on Saturday.

On Monday, June 16, gang members Cecil Ramcharran, called ‘Uncle Willie’, and Robin Chung, called ‘Chung Boy’,  were killed at Goat Farm, an area on the left bank of the Berbice River some 90 kilometres from Arokium’s camp.

This occurred shortly after the gang had hijacked a mini-bus at Aroaima.
A 15-year-old boy who is said to be a member of the gang was arrested on the same day not far away from Ituni. This boy told the Police that he had walked in the bush alone for three days after his colleagues had gone and left him in the bush.

The boy suggested that five of them crossed the Berbice River on a makeshift raft some time on Thursday night, June 12.

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