Linden victims receive compensation from OP

Jun 27, 2013 News

The relatives of the three men killed in Linden on July 18, last year, along with the victims injured in the mayhem during the protest action, yesterday received the cash award for damages that had been determined by the Commission of Inquiry.
The men and women arrived at Office of the President, yesterday, and uplifted the payments but subsequently lamented the quantum received. They further charged that they were made to sign for the

The victims and relatives of the dead Lindeners leaving Office of the President yesterday after uplifting ‘compensation.’

money under ‘duress.’
Accompanied by Sharma Solomon, the Regional Chairman, the group has since vowed to continue to press for a more suitable compensation, possibly through legal redress.
Solomon who addressed members of the media after the grouping had collected the compensation, said that the sums awarded by the Commission “symbolize a slap in the face of the victims.”
He told media operatives that they have since demanded the formula used by the Commission in determining the compensation amount.
Solomon said that they are not officially recognizing the payment as compensation but rather as payments made by the state after the Commission had determined that it was the state that was responsible for the “murders and injuries.”
He questioned how the Commission determined that a young man just past adolescence could have his life be valued at $1M, or that a father of two, who was gunned down, would be worth $3M.
“How does one justify the assumption that a life is only worth $1M.”
Solomon said that the residents of Region Ten would have “this afternoon (yesterday) entered a new phase of our struggle in pursuit of our justice.”
According to Solomon, the damages awarded by the Commission of Inquiry do not constitute “just compensation.”
While at Office of the President yesterday, none of the victims were met by any official government representative but rather an official responsible for disbursement.
Sharma said that the victims were made to sign a voucher that had in its fine print their satisfaction with the award.
He said that they are unable to put on paper their objection to the amounts and were told to sign the statement or not be paid.
This, he said, constituted ‘duress’ but said that they did use the opportunity to verbally signal their objection to the amount paid over.
He said that the RDC will, at the request of the families “of our slain brothers Allan Lewis, Ron Somerset and Shemroy Boyea, as well as those injured on the 18th July 2012, pursue all legal options to secure a better compensation settlement.”
He further lamented that the victims were not allowed to leave with copies of the statements they were made to sign.
“They have accepted in protest, understanding that future action may be impending,” said Solomon.