Uneven progress on Linden agreement

-Economic Committee still to be set up as deadline passes

While the Technical Committee reviewing electricity rates in Linden has been making progress with five meetings held so far, the Economic Committee is at a standstill as the government and the Region Ten administration cannot agree on who should be its chairperson.

As a result of the squabbling between the two sides, nothing has been done so far, now three weeks after it should have gotten off the ground, following the August 21, 2012 signing of an agreement between the government and Region Ten.

The agreement between the two sides came as part of the efforts to bring normalcy to the town, which saw violent protests against proposed escalations in electricity charges for Linden residents. The agreement would see those increases being put on hold until the work of the technical committee is complete.

Sharma Solomon

Efforts by Stabroek News to reach government advisor Gail Teixeira for a comment on the status of the implementation of the agreements proved futile.

“The work of the technical committee has started,” Regional Chairman of Region Ten  Sharma Solomon, however, told this newspaper on Saturday. “Members of that committee have met on five occasions. There has been significant movement on that,” Solomon reported. “We want to put out a public position on it but [we will give them the opportunity to conclude their work],” he said.

That committee is chaired by Narvon Persaud and comprises Lloyd Rose, Haslyn Parris and Professor Clive Thomas, who were nominated by the opposition and Norman McLean, Bharat Dindyal, and Winston Brassington nominated by the government.

The technical committee is tasked with reviewing the existing provision and consumption of electricity in Linden, including the history, the costs, the tariff structure, and the subsidies; considering arrangements to provide electricity to the Linden community and the tariffs to sustain such arrangements within a sustainable time frame; examining Region 10′s economic circumstances inclusive of the affordability of increased cost; looking at the advantages and disadvantages of the integration of the supply of electricity in the Linden area into the national grid; and, making recommendations on cost saving measures and options for alternative energy, including the facilitation of conservation education and conservation.

This committee was also supposed to be reporting to the two sides on a fortnightly basis and is to present its final report within 60 days.

Economic Committee

Solomon said that with regards to the Economic Committee, the region is disappointed that the government has rejected the region’s nominees for chairperson of the committee, thereby resulting in inertia.

He said that the region nominated two women – Joycelyn Miller and Desiree Field-Ridley – but government rejected these names and put forward instead Clinton Williams, Rajendra Rampersaud and Roger Rogers.

The Economic Committee is tasked with examining all studies, all plans, all sectors and their resources in use, new resources and human resources and developing a sustainable development plan for Linden and Region 10.

It is also supposed to review all initiatives, including LEAP and LEN, with the aim of gleaning the lessons to be learnt from these initiatives and make recommendations for new initiatives. It will look at Linden and Region 10′s facilities and capacity for food self sufficiency and to the extent feasible develop a plan for self sufficiency as part of the Regional Development Plan.

The committee will examine the employment situation of Linden in particular and Region 10 in general and make appropriate recommendations.

It is also tasked with reviewing the existing framework within which private investment is attracted to Linden and Region 10 and make the appropriate recommendations. It will seek to identify the issues as they relate to policies, administrative capacity, skills development, investment climate etc.

The Economic Committee is supposed to be reporting to the two sides monthly and present its final report within 90 days.

The Economic Committee will comprise seven persons, three persons nominated by each side and an agreed on Chairperson. The names should have been submitted by the two sides within seven days and subsequent to that, the chairperson would have been appointed by the two sides within three days.
The region proposed Sylvester Carmichael, Aubrey Norton and Haslyn Parris for this committee.

Television

Solomon said that the issue of the television station for Linden is moving apace satisfactorily, save and except for the fact that the transmitter which should have been delivered by September 8 by the government is still undelivered.

“We have visited the site on several occasions and we have started work on an 8’ x 8’ building to accommodate the operators and we have acquired $2 million in equipment,” he said. Solomon added that a 150 foot tower has already been built in preparation for the television station’s operation.

“We have made arrangements for the repositioning of a dish and we are just at the stage where we have to now install it. We are hoping to do that this week. Once we have everything in place we intend to broadcast,” he said. “We are only waiting on the government to hand over the transmitter. That should have been done since September 7,” he said.

He said that the region should have started a training programme for staff of the station but the person identified to do the training is out of the country. The region, he added, will seek applications for persons interested in working at the station.

Solomon said that an application has been sent into the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority in the name of the Region Ten Regional Democratic Council and the People of Region Ten.

He said that the region will put in place a management committee but will reserve the right to have a say in the programming offered by the channel. The region will be partnering with a private individual in the television effort.

Solomon said that while the television station will be operating with a view to being financially viable, this is not its primary objective. He said that the station will be operating in a way that has the interest of the communities of Region Ten and their people’s development at heart.

For many years Linden had protested that the only channel available to it was state TV and it had said that the government had refused to permit private operators.

Land Committee

On the land selection committee, Solomon said that this committee has been established. But he said that the PPP/C and the AFC still need to submit names of persons to sit on that committee.

“The Terms of Reference have been crafted and we need to have the legal authority to ensure that all land issues are channelled through this committee,” Solomon said. He said that membership of this committee include the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission, the Guyana Forestry Commission and the Central Housing and Planning Authority.