The Government will pay homage next year to Linden martyrs, Ron Sommerset, Shemroy Bouyea and Allan Lewis, who were killed during a fiery protest on July 18, 2012.
This will be done through the construction of a monument to the fallen men in the mining community. Some $5 Million is being allocated for the project which will unfold in 2019. Linden officials, particularly relatives and those who were involved in the protest action, have welcomed this development.
Allan Lewis’s son, Rodwell Lewis, said that he is happy that the monument is finally coming to reality since there were requests made since 2012 for this to be done.
A street in Wismar Housing Scheme was named ‘Allan Lewis Avenue’ in memory of his father.
The mother of Shemroy Bouyea also welcomed the decision. “I am happy about it and I think it is a very good thing,” she said.
In July 2012, Lindeners took to the streets for 36 days to send a strong message against a proposal, by the previous PPP/C administration, to drastically hike electricity tariffs from $5 per Kilowatt to $65.
Ron Sommerset, Shemroy Bouyea and Allan Lewis were shot dead during the protests.
During the 2012 protests, the entire town was shut down, while main roads became impassable. Several government buildings, including a school, were gutted by fire. Public roads and bridges were also destroyed.
A Commission of Inquiry found that the martyrs were shot by law enforcement officers.
In his budget presentation, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan made a public appeal for Government to do better by the martyrs’ relatives. “I am asking my section here to revisit the compensation that was given to those people; they were unarmed people protesting for their rights and they were killed.”
Region 10 received a 2019 budget allocation of $3.9 Billion, the largest sum to date. (DPI, Guyana)