`I saw grenade thrown' - witness tells commission
by Wendella Davidson
A CIVILIAN who said he saw the actual throwing of a grenade at Policemen outside the Finance Ministry during the recent public service pay strike, was yesterday publicly commended by Justice Carl Singh. The judge praised real estate agent Allan Gates for his display of a keen sense of interest to civic duties. This came after he completed testifying under the guidance of Counsel for the Commission, Mr. Mortimer Cumberbatch, at the on-going inquiry into violence in Georgetown during the almost two-month strike that ended last month. The witness recalled seeing, on June 10 last, a "long, thin, dark" arm make an overhand bowling action from within a crowd outside the ministry. Then a greenish object moved through the air towards the Police, he said. As the object landed, they (Policemen) scampered in different directions, he told the Commission. At the time, there were claims that the grenade had dropped from a bag carried by a cop, but the Police said cops do not carry grenades. Recounting more of the events, Gates said that at about 15:00 hrs that day, he had attempted to enter the compound of the Ministry of Finance using the Main Street entrance, when he was blocked by about four women. "They pushed me back saying `You can't enter'", he related. He remembered too, seeing a large crowd gathered in front of the ministry gate and others were in the Main Street avenue. They were hostile and were chanting nosily, according to Gates. Not being able to pass the gate, the witness said he remained in the area for about 10 minutes, when he saw ranks from the Police Tactical Services Unit (TSU) arrive. However, when the TSU ranks ordered the crowd to disperse and desist from behaving in a disorderly manner, they (crowd) responded by hurling bricks at the Police. At this point the witness said he became fearful for his life and began to observe the crowd "more closely". It was then that he saw the throwing of the object which he later learnt was a grenade. Continuing in his evidence, the witness said the following day, June 11, he was in Regent Street between Camp and Wellington streets when he observed about five groups each of about 20 young men, of African descent, position themselves at the Guyoil gas station, Regent Street. They had bricks and bottles. Not long after, he saw a truckload of TSU Policemen approaching and proceeding in a westward direction. The witness said the groups of men, on noticing the Police, moved in different directions, then began to pull stalls belonging to vendors and place them across Regent Street, blocking the flow of traffic in the process. He further told the Commission of hearing one man say "We gon bun down the city" and "Janet must go." As the groups started to set the stands afire, the Police advanced and ordered them to disperse. But the crowd reacted by raining missiles at the Police, who shot tear smoke canisters. Asked by Commission head Justice Singh whether he had seen the man who used the remarks before then, the witness said yes, at street corners and gambling. Gates said the tear smoke affected him too and he ran away. According to the witness, he was at the Industry car park, Avenue of the Republic, when he saw the same set of men liming in the vicinity. Also, when he glanced north he saw a bus transporting Kent garment factory workers, mostly females, approaching. A group of about nine persons charged in the direction of the bus and stood in its pathway causing it to halt, he said. And, in a hostile and threatening manner the men ordered the occupants out, causing some of the women to jump through the bus window to escape, he recalled. Looking terrified, the women, some screaming and crying, began to run east along Robb Street with the men in "hot pursuit", he said. Some five minutes later, the Police arrived and one of their vehicles drove behind the bus as it sought to rescue its passengers, he said. Venue for the hearing is the Public Service Appellate Tribunal building, Brickdam, Georgetown.
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