-want to meet President instead
By Cathy Wilson

Lindeners say they want to meet with President Bharrat Jagdeo after walking out of a meeting yesterday set with the prime minister after it was announced that he could not attend.

“This is a deliberate and disrespectful move by [Prime Minister] Sam Hinds,” one charged after Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo told them that he would not be attending. Head of the Privatization Unit Winston Brassington told Mingo that Hinds could not attend mere seconds before the meeting was called to order. The more than 200 residents were frank in voicing their displeasure and they soon decided to leave the meeting.

Residents angrily told Stabroek News that NCN Linden had first announced that the meeting was set for Wednesday at 3pm at the Linmine Constabulary Recreational Hall and that Hinds would attend. They then said that on Wednesday an announcement was made postponing the meeting to Friday but confirming that Hinds would attend.

Meanwhile, Mingo acknowledged that he had received a letter from Chief Executive Officer of the Linmine Secretariat Horace James on Wednesday, notifying him of the change of date. A document outlining government’s proposal for new electricity tariffs following the first consultation with the Prime Minister on May 20 was also attached. According to the proposal, the Linden electricity system is not a part of the national grid and is not connected to Guyana Power and Light Inc. Electrification in Linden developed as electricity supplied by and from the bauxite company. From the 1970s the government had set its sights on extending electrification across Guyana with GEC, now GPL, as the national carrier absorbing existing suppliers and distributors of electricity to communities to achieve the economies of scale.

According to the proposal Linden was slated for absorption. It said too that in the early 1980s it was decided that electricity prices in Linden would be raised to economic levels. Prices were raised on several occasions but the increases in cost – mainly fuel – dwarfed those increases resulting in the existing tariffs being less than 10% of the cost generation. In Linden, all electrical power for the community and the bauxite operations is generated by BOSAI Minerals Guyana Inc. There is a Power Sale and Purchase Agreement among BOSAI Minerals formerly OMAI, Linden Electricity Company Inc (LEI) and the Cooperative Republic of Guyana which governs the purchase of community power for Linden.

The current arrangement and tariff stipulates that:
1. the government provides the financing to LEI to pay the generation cost to BOSAI which amounted to $1,742M and $734M up to April 2008;
2. LEI buys power and re-sells it in bulk to Linden Utility Services Coop Society Limited (LUSCSL) for distribution on the West Bank whilst LEI distributes on the East Bank;
3. customers on both Banks pay $5/KwH for domestic and $12/KwH for commercial and industrial use;
4. LEI pays LUSCSL for pensioners on the West Bank at $5 per KwH consumed;
5. LEI sells the bulk power to LUSCSL at a token price of $1 per KwH for residential and $7 per KwH for commercial use, thereby enjoying a mark up of $4 per KwH on residential and $5 per KwH on commercial LUSCSL customers and
6. ex-Linmine pensioners on either side of the river receive up to 300 KwH per month at no charge.
Parliament approved a subsidy for 2008 at $2,043M. However at the existing fuel price of US$158.998 per barrel the revised subsidy would be in excess of $2,600M. In a move to cushion this, government is proposing that residential customers be subsidized up to 1200kwh per month at $5.00 per KwH. Any additional usage will be billed at GPL rates. Residential pensioners will be subsidized up to 100kwh per month at no cost. Any additional usage will be billed at GPL rates. Commercial/Industrial customers will be subsidized up to 300kwh per month at $12.00 per month and any additional usage will be billed at GPL rates.

Lindeners are outraged at this proposal saying that it would mean that they are forced to pay a large increase. Interim Management Committee Chairman Orin Gordon in an interview with Stabroek News reflected on an arrangement made by President Bharrat Jagdeo while in his capacity of Minister of Finance. “He said that he was spending quite a bit of money in Linmine and upon releasing the company that those resources would go into projects within the community,” Gordon said. He said in keeping with this it was Jagdeo’s position to consult with the community to decide where those sums would have been utilized for development. This was has not been done.

Billing for electricity has to encompass capacity and energy so it is unfair to link GPL with Bosai, Gordon said. “GPL has large capacities across Guyana which cannot be compared to the minute capacity of BOSAI,” he contends. Gordon said too with the current proposal government is trying to accumulate $1.2B within seven months. This is says is virtually impossible with a 70% unemployment rate in Linden he said, adding that it would mean that each household would  have to pay just less than $12,000 per month; an increase of 40% on the current billing. Currently electricity billing is done for 8,310 household in Linden with the average person earning a minimum of $29,000 – $30,000 per month.
For now, the Linden Concerned Citizens Association has planned a general meeting tomorrow with residents to discuss a way forward on the issue.