“Forgotten Survivors” share struggle of dealing with lifelong injuries, making ends meet with $125,000 per month

Dec 18, 2023 News

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23rd anniversary of tragic GDF Camp Groomes explosion…

By Kiana Wilburg

Kaieteur News – Today marks the 23rd anniversary of a series of deadly explosions that rocked the Guyana Defence Force (GDF)’s largest ammunition dump, Camp Groomes. The incident had claimed the lives of three soldiers. As for four of the 11 survivors, they shared with Kaieteur News that they not only feel “forgotten” but they also struggle to deal with permanent ailments as well as making ends meet with a $125,000 salary.

On December 18, 2000, 14 soldiers were tasked with guarding the three-storey ammunition bond at Camp Groomes located deep within the woods along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway. The bond, due to reasons which have not been released to the public, exploded. The bond reportedly contained grenades, various rifles, guns, and a suspected chemical warfare weapon which the government had said was destroyed at the time.

When the dust settled after the massive explosion, three ranks were dead and among the injured were: Samuel Archer, Colwin Lewis, Wincel Wade, Kerwin Wilson, Curtis Samuels, Delroy Hutson, Joslyn Ross, Cecil Ault and Wendell Cort. Some of victims suffered loss of eyesight, third degree burns about their bodies, legs and backs while others sustained damaged and fractured spines.

The four survivors, who Kaieteur News spoke with last week, all noted that in the years following the horrifying incident, they had to fight for proper compensation. This finally occurred in 2018/2019. This newspaper understands that the survivors were all promoted to Sergeant which allows them to receive about $125,000 per month. The men said, however, that this money is barely enough to cover groceries and the expenses related to dealing with their varying injuries. They said the physical, economic and psychological hardships can be daunting to live through many days.

Curtis Samuels, for example, shared that he has never experienced a pain-free day since the incident. “I am experiencing ailments from that incident every day. Most of it is mentally and internal. I get a lot of pain in my feet,” shared Samuels.

The 42-year-old added, “Because of the pain, I cannot really work. I can’t stand too long on my feet…Sometimes the pain is so much, I have to stay in bed…As for the salary, it is $125,000 but we would be happy for this to increase because at this point, it cannot help me with the cost of living and I have two kids.”

Recounting his experience in the incident, Samuels described it as a terrible one. He recalled that at the time, he was a Lance Corporal. Samuels said he was part of a unit of soldiers who was posted to the location to stand guard.

He shared that the team worked a shift system, where some of the men would sleep while others kept watch. Samuels said the place was pitch black as they did not have enough gas for the generator they would use, which they turned off around midnight. What concerned him though was a flashing light, which he saw some distance away from the fence of the camp. Samuels said around 21:30hrs on December 18, 2000, another colleague informed him of strange movements near the camp. Samuels said he and his colleagues were eager to investigate but hesitated since, in the darkness, they could be exposing themselves to an unknown danger.

Hopeful that he and his team were safe, Samuels who lives in Corentyne, Berbice said he proceeded to take his rest in the guard room set up outside of the bond. “When I went to sleep, for some reason, I dream I was fighting a war…but it was the real thing…the place exploded. There were several explosions and this was foreday morning.

“I de done give up on life because I was pinned down…But next thing when I catch back mehself, I was in a bush. I don’t even remember how I got there or what else happened. But we lost three good men in that explosion…,” the Sergeant said.

His colleague, Samuel Archer also spoke of his struggle to cope since the horrifying incident. Archer, who lives in Kuru Kuru on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, recalled that another unit of soldiers was supposed to relieve the team and take over guard duty two weeks before. But they did not show up. Archer said he and Lieutenant Carter then left for Camp Seweyo located six miles away. There, they called their families and informed them that they would have to stay longer and would not be coming home.

Upon completing those calls, Archer said he and the Lieutenant started making their way back to Camp Groomes. During that time, they met up with a Sergeant Gordon who was heading to Camp Seweyo. Archer said he asked the soldier why he had left his post since he was given strict orders to stay and supervise the team. Archer said the Sergeant told him, he decided to head to Camp Seweyo because they were taking too long with their calls.

Archer said the Sergeant then told him something very strange. He recalled him emphasizing that, “If anybody asks who was shining light, I must tell dem is he (Sergeant) was shining de light”.

Archer said he continued on his journey to Camp Groomes, but he had the strangest feeling that the Sergeant was not being honest.  He further recalled that upon returning to the base, the other soldiers shared their concerns about the flashing light they saw near the camp. Upon sharing what was told to him by the Sergeant, Archer said plans were put in place to remain vigilant. Interestingly, the Sergeant never returned from Camp Seweyo.

As the evening progressed, Archer recalled being very tired, and taking a few minutes to rest. “I was so tired that I went and lay down on my back. I didn’t even take off my clothes. When I drop to sleep, I start dream a set of things. I dreaming nuff explosion like I deh in a war. I throwing grenades at my enemy all but when I open my eyes and I seeing all this fire around me. I thought I was dreaming with my eyes open. So I go back to bed to sleep.”

Archer said he recalled one of his soldiers shaking him frantically, urging him to get up, that it was not a dream.  “When I catch myself, I realize that the place blow up. I run out and tried to climb over the fence but then they tell me one of our guys was caught under a bunker. So I turn back and help him out. And push him over the fence. I run from there straight to Seweyo,” Archer recalled.

Archer covered six miles even though he suffered a ruptured eardrum as well as significant third-degree burns to his face, neck, arms, back, stomach and legs. He recalled being successful in getting help for his team and subsequently being flown to the city where all the survivors received treatment at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

More than two decades after that tragedy, the GDF officer shared that he was back in the hospital last month to treat another issue. “Several weeks ago, I started getting this pain in my head, and I was smelling something very stink and rotten around me. I started feeling very weak too…my sister helped me get to GPHC. When I got there, and they did a CT scan, they told me that my brain was leaking fluid.”

As he continues to use medication to address the latest issue, Archer said these ailments are heartbreaking reminders of the horrors of December 18, 2000.

Two other survivors who did not wish to share their candid views on the record, due to fear of victimization, appealed for better to be done for those soldiers who have been permanently scarred or rendered unfit for work. One of the survivors said, “We used to get assistance with groceries but that cut off now. For the past two years, we stop getting Christmas hampers too. I feel to myself they should do better for us man. This happen to us in the line of duty…We are not being treated right. But don’t mention my name because I really don’t want no moh heat from them.”

The other survivor lamented the current salary of $125,000 as being insufficient to cover his basic needs. “…it just isn’t enough, look at the high prices for food and then we still got to take care of ourselves and these injuries that with us for life,” he said. The GDF survivor said, “But I don’t want to get cut off…We had to beg and fight for years to get back into the system…I can’t afford for them to drop me now.”

The survivors also shared that a Board of Inquiry was launched into the incident in 2020 but they were never told of the results. To this day, they do not know who was officially responsible for what they believe to be a blatant act of sabotage.

 

 

 

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• Cecil Ault and Wendell Cort, Colwin Lewis, Curtis Samuels, Delroy Hutson, Guyana Defence Force, Joslyn Ross, Kerwin Wilson, Samuel Archer, Wincel Wade

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