Residents of Speightland need justice

Sep 19, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

I write this letter in response to an article published in another newspaper on Monday, September 16, 2019 captioned: “PPP councillor in Linden accused of collecting signatures under false pretense”. I was taken aback because the contents of the letter are completely fabricated. I use this medium to state the facts, which can be verified by the residents living in Speightland.
There is a Community Development Council (CDC), which exists in Speightland of which Mr. Kevon Lorrimer is a past Chairman, but he was voted out. He would have since formed the Speightland Logging and Agriculture Cooperative Society (SLAC). He is currently an employee of the APNU/AFC Government and does political work with the title of a Community Development Officer. He has been operating closely with the Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Hon. Sydney Allicock. The residents for some time have been most displeased with Mr. Lorrimer’s behaviour and decided to write a letter of complaint to the Minister highlighting what has been happening. It was agreed that all residents would sign this letter. I went on to gather the signatures from everyone and delivered the letter to Minister Allicock’s office, copies were also sent to Ministry of the Presidency, the Sergeant of E-Division, Commander of E-Division, the Regional Chairman – Region 10, and the CDC officer of Region 10.
Surprisingly, within hours of delivering the letter to Minister Allicock’s office, a reply from the Minister was sent to my home. This was delivered by Mr. Lorrimer, the same person who the community complained against. On Sunday, September 8, 2019, approximately 150 residents came out to meet Minister Allicock to express their displeasure but we were prevented by the police from engaging the Minister. The Minister refused to meet with us and I was told by Mr. Marlon Pearson, a staff of the Minister and a friend of Mr. Lorrimer that only 3 persons could speak with the Minister.
Following this, Mr. Lorrimer was seen to have in his possession, a copy of the letter which was sent to the Minister along with the signatures of the residents. He was using the list to intimidate and threaten several persons in the community, making reference to taking actions against those who were speaking out. I recall on September 2, 2019, there was a meeting with the residents where the residents questioned why the CDC was not managing the Heritage Event. Mr. Lorrimer showed up and made abusive remarks towards other residents and me. There are available audio recordings of Mr. Lorrimer’s verbal abuse on others and me who were in attendance.
Following that Sunday, I contacted the PPP/C representative in the area, Bishop Juan Edghill and he came and held a meeting with the residents on Tuesday, September 10, 2019. Bishop Edghill listened to the complaints of the residents and documented them, promising that he would look into the matter. While this meeting was in progress, Mr. Lorrimer was in the vicinity, filming the residents as they spoke seeking once again to intimidate persons but the residents still spoke out. Several of the issues brought to light were: 1) Mr. Lorrimer’s financial dealings with residents as it related to support from Food For the Poor (FFTP); 2) Mr. Lorrimer’s financial dealings with loggers and residents in the community; 3) The residents spoke about him disrespecting the CDC and its Executives, the residents recalled when he was the Chairman all matters had to be passed through him and there are still outstanding financial matters, 4) For two years now, Mr. Lorrimer has hijacked the Heritage Event, taking it away from the CDC and has made no financial contributions to the community; 5) He used the registration and serial numbers of residents to apply for land through Forestry and the said persons were sidelined when the application was successful; 6) Also, residents complained that when Mr. Lorrimer was forming the Loggers Association, he did not involve the members in crafting the constitution and there was no election; 7) The CDC had applied to NICIL for the playground in Speightland but was told that the matter was in Court. However, on Sunday, September 8, 2019, the playground was handed over to Mr. Lorrimer through the Loggers Association.
These are not my concerns but those of the residents in Speightland.
I wish to clarify and make clear any misguided details:
1) At no time did I obtain anyone’s signature by falsely representing this matter. It was the community which made the decision that a letter should be written. All I did as the Chairperson of the CDC was to collect the signatures and deliver the letter on behalf of the residents. This matter was discussed and agreed upon.
2) It is shocking that the article said I obtained the signatures by false pretense when nearly 150 of these residents showed up on Sunday, September 8, 2019 to engage the Minister against Mr. Lorrimer’s behaviour.
3) Persons who were quoted in the article in question have contacted me and said that they had no conversation with Mr. Lorrimer or with the newspaper on the details mentioned. This is a total fabrication. It was intended to defame me and to attack my reputation. I believe this has happened not just because I am the Chairperson of the CDC but more so because I am a Regional Democratic Councillor representing the PPP/C in Region 10. I expect the newspaper in question to offer a public apology and correct this mischief.
4) Mr. Lorrimer needs to be dealt with for his bullying, intimidation tactics and threats to the residents of the community. The residents need justice.

Yours sincerely,
Gem Narine
Chairperson – Speightland CDC

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