By Faizool Deo
GOMATTIE Thomas stands strong, yesterday, just days after the brutal slaying of her husband and two children. She was able to comfort her family and friends when they visited her home at Lusignan. She looks to God for courage in these turbulent times in her life, and today that courage will be put to the test when she says her final goodbyes.
Today has been described as a day of mourning by the government, as not just the three Thomases but 10 of the 11 persons killed on Saturday last in the village will be buried or cremated.

For Gomattie, her mourning would be eternal. Her husband has been a rock in her life since they met some 24 years ago. She remembers the time with a slight smile - of all places, it was Lusignan the meeting took place. She had just returned from a trip to Suriname (she lived there for a while but was born in Guyana) and was visiting her grandmother in the village. Clarence, on the other hand, was visiting with a friend. The details or discussion she could not recall, but she did remember his handsome face—an instant attraction she claimed. As the months went by it was Clarences’ humility that won Gomattie’s heart. “He was a very nice man, very humble and cheerful, never fighting,” the widow declared.

Gomattie said that once they were married she decided that it would be best for them to get their own house and start their family. Some 15 years ago, that place has been at Lot 26 Lusignan. The family to this day has not showered in wealth and life has been a sacrifice. “Clarence has juggled jobs as a carpenter and a diver. His greatest job though has been in the house. He was a wonderful husband and father,” the window said.

She remembered him doing chores, tending to the garden and tending to her needs. His biggest joy though was his children, she said.

Clarence was not the typical father, “his children were his friends”. His dream was to put them in comfort. Clarence had recently told Gomattie that by his 50th birthday, they would be in a position to give their children all that they needed—he was gunned down less than one month after celebrating his 48th birthday.

The aspiring air-hostess and golfer
In the wee hours of Saturday morning Gomattie was placed in a position no mother would ever want to be in. She had to hide while two of her children were executed – brutally mowed down by marauding gunmen in cold blood.

She and Clarence had given the children their bed and were sleeping on a mattress on the floor. It was a curtain that separated the two sleeping places that saved her life, she recalled.

Two of her other children (the fifth does not live in Lusignan) were injured in the shooting rampage, but managed to survive.

The darkness of the night did not prevent the mother from feeling life sucked out of her two children. The sounds of the gunshots and the grunts from her children constantly haunt her; she trembled while recalling the incident as she spoke with this newspaper yesterday.

But there was a pleasing sound in her memory box; it was the chattering of her babies.

Her 12-year-old girl Vanessa and 11-year-old son Ron had dreams. She said Vanessa also talked about becoming an air-hostess. For Ron, who was a part-time caddie at the Lusignan golf course, he dreamt of becoming a golfer.

“He would escape all the time to the course,” a sad and deeply pained Gomattie recalled.

Her other children (Roberto and Howard), the ones who survived the attack, and Mark don’t want her to stay in the village of Lusignan anymore. Gomattie, however, is mixed with emotions. Her home was the place that breathed joy into her whilst it was also the place that she lost it to bandits.
Amerindian communities now own 14% of Guyana’s landmass
THE continuous process of issuing land titles to Amerindian communities throughout the country has resulted in Amerindians now being the owners of 14% of Guyana’s landmass.

At his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon made this disclosure, pointing out that over the last three years, some 22 land titles have been granted, bringing the total number of communities which have received land titles to 96.

Cabinet recently granted land titles to Rupunau, Katoka and Parikwarnawa in Region 9 (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), while there has been extension of titling lands to Massara and Yakarinta, also in Region 9. (Chamanlall Naipaul)