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Beyond the article: The longstanding electricity disparity in Linden
Dear Editor,
Today I looked at an article written by MP Sharma Solomon and even though I agree with most of what he has written, there is a critical issue he failed to mention.
This issue deals with the issue of electricity rates in Linden. For many years the people of Linden, especially those on the west bank of the community have been concerned about electricity issues and in the nineties those issues were settled relative to the cost of electricity in the entire community by the board of directors of the company. I often remember asking members of the board of directors why those living in places like Watooka, Noitgedacht and Richmond Hill were not paying electricity bills and the board made a decision to immediately fix that situation. Of course, I was a member of the board of directors at that time.
Residents of Linden have for decades been dealing with environmental issues relative to the bauxite company in terms of bauxite dust that not only impacted their health but caused serious problems at their homes. That is one of the primary reasons why electricity rates in Linden have never been high like many other areas in Guyana.
This situation has never been fully understood by many politicians on all sides of the political spectrum. On many occasions issues were raised expressing concerns from certain politicians about the low electricity rates at Linden. The LUSCSL that supplies electricity on the west side of Linden was concerned about the frequent view that electricity rates were too low and its members made a decision to increase electricity rates on the west side of Linden. The new rates moved from $5 to $7, for domestic usage and from $12 to $15 for commercial usage. Those new rates were introduced in 2010. After the new rates were introduced on the west bank, as the secretary of the LUSCSL, I consulted the head of the board of directors of the electricity company at Mckenzie, Mr. Carvil Duncan, requesting that the rates on the Mckenzie side should also be increased.
This request was rejected on the grounds that the then government is not interested in raising the rates of the people on the east bank of Linden.
Two years later the government attempted to raise the electricity rates for Linden by over 800 per cent. That spiteful move by the government led to mass protests in Linden and resulted in the death of three young men. Would those three Lindeners be in their graves today if the rates were increased on both sides in 2010? Sixteen years later, the residents on the west side of Linden are still paying 25 and 40 per cent more for electricity than the residents and businesses on the east side of the community. It is my permanent view that what happened in 2012 was a move to spite the people of Linden because of the results of the 2011 elections. I will stop now.
Sincerely,
Charles Sampson
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