Support for the strike violence probe
JUSTICE Carl Singh admits he has a "formidable" task ahead of him to investigate and report on the violence and other incidents that took place in the public sector pay strike that ended last month. He has also pledged to be "fair to all concerned" in the inquiry which he should begin today. There will be much public interest in the evidence that will go before the Singh Commission and the findings that we expect will also be released when these are compiled and presented. There was far too much that went wrong during that strike, not least the trauma and violence let loose on innocent people - who had nothing at all to do with the strike and its supporters. Business people were terrorised, employees who wanted to go to work were beaten, sick people who wanted to seek medical help at the Georgetown Hospital were denied entry, vendors were robbed, explosive devices were thrown at buildings, arson was attempted, among other atrocities. The unions agitated for the commission to look into the shooting by Police of workers and others during a mob demonstration outside the John Fernandes wharf in Georgetown and Justice Singh will be looking at this as part of his mandate. Much of what the Singh Commission comes up with will depend on the testimony going before it and we urge all those affected to take advantage of this opportunity to seek some kind of justice. It is important that the lessons from this episode be taken stock of and the appointment of the Commission of Inquiry offers a unique opportunity for this kind of stock-taking. Justice Singh has a full plate ahead of him and he will need the fullest cooperation from all concerned if this mission is to fulfil its objectives. He has been appointed under the law and will be operating with the full protection of the law. All those who may want to testify before the commission may, perhaps, need to be assured they have nothing to fear in doing so and this will have to be clearly transmitted. The inclusion of the storming of the Guyana Public Service Union headquarters by some against the decision by the union leaders to end the strike in the commission's task may be surprising to some people. But we welcome it because that event was also a reflection of how much law and order was threatened and the society can only benefit from the fullest possible accounting. Mr. Justice Singh does indeed face a formidable task, fraught with difficulties. But we have no doubt that he is equal to it. He would, however, be banking on full support from all quarters.
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