Yanie Cu Offered Compensation by G.O.B. Following Near-Fatal Collision

Yanie Cu

On October twenty-fourth News Five brought you the terribly tragic case of Benque resident Yanie Cu. Cu was badly injured in a collision with a vehicle driven at the time by Deputy Commissioner of Police. His family struggled to get him medical care in Guatemala, and all that he seemed able to look forward to were months of unceasing pain and mounting medical costs. But there is exceptionally good news tonight. Even though Segura has not accepted blame for the accident, the Prime Minister has made the decision to offer significant assistance to Cu. And in that vein, the Prime Minister has also made a financial offer of compensation to the family of Danny Conorquie, the Special Constable who was shot down at the Caracol Archaeological Site. Today we got an update on both tragedies.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

Dean Barrow

“The question of some government assistance to the gentleman who was badly injured in the Segura incident—somebody died, I don’t remember the name. He approached me and I said look, I have to be careful because Mister Segura is not accepting liability. So ultimately whether government is going to be liable or not remains to be determined. But I said let me look at it, give me the figures to the expenses that the man has incurred and  for sure, we will either meet all of those medical expenses or contribute a great portion to it.  I believe that the offer made to Danny Conorquie’s mother is fair. I tried to do my very best to ensure that it would reflect the tremendous value that we put on the sacrifice he made. I also had to bear within mind though that as I was told, there were other persons who have fallen in the line of duty.

Danny Conorquie

I was reminded that the police man who was killed in Hattieville—I think that’s the last sort of in-harness death in the line of duty that we had in terms of security forces—that he didn’t get, or his family didn’t get a great deal because the officials were looking at the rules. And I said that can’t stop me from trying to do far better by Conorquie. What you can do, I said to the minister, is come to me now and make a case for additional money to be given to the family of that police man. But one has to bear in mind that there are rules that I am prepared to bend to give people more than what is technically allowed, but I have to be careful to bend and not to break.”

We are told that the family of Danny Conorquie is currently considering the offer made by government, and a decision should be made soon.