Protesters picket Karib CableRelatives of accident victims want their due

About 20 persons vented their frustration at what they believe to be injustice being meted out to them when they protested outside the offices of Karib Cable TV (sister company of Kelectric Co. Ltd) last Tuesday.

Although it is over two years later, the pain is still fresh and the slow turning wheels of justice are making it worse for the persons who were personally affected when a truck owned by Kelectric Co. Ltd. slammed into the Millenium Minimart at Glebe Hill, Barrouallie, on Thursday, October 06, 2005, killing three elderly persons.{{more}}

“All we want is justice, it has been over two years and we have received nothing,” said Cindy Richardson, owner of the mini-mart who herself narrowly escaped death because she was warned by a little boy who saw the truck coming.

“He said run, and I ran, that is what saved my life,” said Richardson, pointing to eight-year-old Kaymah Roberts whose great aunt Rosa Roberts was also killed in the accident.

The protestors complained that since the accident they have been seeking compensation but it has not materialized and now they are fed up.

Richardson told SEARCHLIGHT that she got a loan from a credit union to rebuild her business place as she was told that those types of matters usually take a while to be settled. But now she believes that she is being taken for a ride and through her lawyer is vowing to keep pressing for justice.

Their problems they claim were compounded when The Bertrands Doyle Limited, consultants for The Beacon Insurance Company Limited in a letter to Attorney Nicole Sylvester, dated April 18, 2006 stated that the vehicle involved in the accident was not insured by Beacon.

“They think because is poor people they could treat us like dogs? Not so at all,” said June Reece who lost her mother on that dreadful day that threw all of Barrouallie into a state of shock and disbelief.

Olive James, 70, Rosa Roberts, 76, and Carol Reece, 65, were outside the minimart relaxing when the truck crashed into them. They died on the spot. One body was pinned directly under the truck, one between the wall and the truck and the other inside the mini mart.

It took four hours to remove the victims’ bodies as the truck, heavily laden with Rabacca material had to be first pulled away with a crane. The crane was at first unsuccessful in its attempts, and a tractor had to be brought in to scoop the material from the truck’s tray to lighten it.

Efforts to contact Kelly Glass, owner of Kelectric Co. Ltd proved futile.