President extends life of strike incidents enquiry
President Janet Jagan, acting on the request of Commissioner, Justice Carl Singh, has extended the time available for the Commission of Enquiry to conduct hearings into the events that took place in Georgetown during the 55-day public service strike. This announcement was made yesterday by Justice Singh, the very day that the commission's original deadline was scheduled to expire. The judge also took the opportunity to announce that as of Monday he would be proceeding to the Bahamas for a judicial conference and, as such, the next sitting of the Commission of Enquiry will be on Monday, August 16. These two announcements were made in the presence of Comptroller of Customs, Clarence Chue; and Chairman of the Interim Management Committee of the Georgetown Hospital, Dr Leslie Ramsammy. Dr Ramsammy, after missing a hearing on Thursday, had been scheduled to begin giving testimony today in relation to incidents at the Georgetown Hospital. However, Justice Singh directed that this will instead be the first order of business when the commission resumes sitting in August. Dr Ramsammy's testimony will precede those of Chief Executive Officer, George Munroe, and Director of Medical Services, Dr Madan Rambarran, who have already prepared relevant statements. Justice Singh also directed Chue to use the time provided to check with his Customs officers in relation to a specific incident concerning the Customs Boat House that the commission will be looking into.
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