City Chamber calls on all parties to honour Linden pact

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry today called on all parties to honour the pact reached on August 21 last year to end the Linden crisis.

The Chamber statement comes amid growing unease that nearly five months after the deal was reached to end the crisis sparked by proposed higher electricity tariffs that nothing has been achieved.

Government and the Region 10 (Upper Berbice/Upper Demerara) administration have traded charges over who is responsible. Region 10 is to hold a public meeting this weekend to ventilate concerns over the state of the pact which was to address issues like the tariff review, a television station and the economic prospects for the region.

The Chamber statement follows:

“The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) is calling on all parties to honor the commitments made in the agreement that brought an end to the Linden crisis situation in August of 2012 between the government and The Region 10 Democratic Council. Moreover, we are calling on the government to ensure that all the resources necessary are made available to facilitate the conclusion of the terms agreed upon in the agreement.

“Many of our member companies operating in the Region were affected during the crisis period and the country as a whole suffered. It is imperative that such a reoccurrence does not present itself and therefore we call for a sober assessment between the government and the Region’s officials to ascertain where they are in terms of implementation and decipher and draft what steps need to be taken to ensure all the agreed terms are met.

“The GCCI remains very optimistic that all the objectives of the agreement will be realized and achieved once both parties act in good faith. There is a lot at stake for our country and for a prosperous economic environment to prevail.

“The Chamber remains committed, as we were during the crisis, to being an objective and responsive broker during this implementation phase of the agreement.“