Linden COI…Relatives of deceased testify

Feb 01, 2013 News

By Latoya Giles
Relatives of Shemroy Bouyea and Allan Lewis, two of the three men who were fatally shot on July 18, 2012, during a protest at Linden, testified yesterday at the Commission of Inquiry. No one was present for Ron Somerset, but it was disclosed that a family member is expected to be available to testify today.

Relatives of the deceased at the Commission of Inquiry yesterday.

First to take the witness box was Jacqueline Bouyea, Shemroy Bouyea’s mother.
Mrs. Bouyea told the court that her 24-year-old son was a labourer who worked at the market and earned a salary of $10,000 per week. She explained that he would give her $5000 to help look after his two other brothers, ages 15 and 29, who had some mental disabilities and are not employed.
Ms. Bouyea told the commissioners that although she worked as a security guard, and made about $30,000 monthly, she would still depend on her son for financial support. The woman stated that her only other source of income was through Public Assistance, a total of $11,000 for her surviving sons. When asked whether she had received any compensation for her son’s death, answered in the negative.
Next to testify was Clyde Lewis, 46-year-old Allan Lewis’s brother. According to the witness, his brother was not employed with a company but worked as a mason and carpenter. He told the commissioners that at the time of his death, his brother was living with his elderly mother.
The brother further noted that Lewis, a father of two, would normally work in and around the community of Linden. He said that just two weeks prior to his brother’s death he was working and had given his mother (who attended the hearing) some $40,000. The man said that Lewis would always maintain his mother, Daphne, who is a pensioner, and two sons, Rodwell, 21, and Orlando, 19.
The dead man’s brother told the Commission, “I would call him a man of many skills, an all-rounder.”
Allan Lewis’s eldest son, Rodwell, was also present at yesterday’s hearing and was called to the witness box. According to the young man, his father was a “major contributor” to him. He explained that he’s currently reading for a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Guyana.
He said that he lives at the dormitories which the university provides and his father was the person who paid for that. He also said that his father would normally give him a weekly stipend to help buy food among other things.
“My father would help with the rent which is $10,000 and he would also give me another $10,000 weekly to help with food, handouts and other things,” Rodwell Lewis testified.
He said that he is not employed and would depend solely on his father and mother. Lewis was then asked if his father would always give him money weekly and according to him this was not always the case, but he (his father) did ensure that his needs were met.
“Sometimes I didn’t always get the $10,000…Sometimes he would give me $8000… He always made sure that I had money for school,” the man’s son maintained.
It was also noted that Orlando Lewis wrote the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) last year.
Commission Chairman Justice Lensley Wolfe sought to question attorney at law Nigel Hughes about whether he had filed formal applications for compensation for his clients. However Hughes informed the Commissioners that there had been no formal application made to the High Court for compensation, in light of the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry. He explained that this was done to ensure that there were not parallel proceedings determining compensation and entitlement.
Hughes also notified the commission that the last witness, who is Ron Somerset’s mother, migrated to Suriname, since the incident. According to the lawyer, the woman has managed to raise her travel fare and is expected to be at the commission today.