Government says that it is running out of money to subsidize electricity in Linden where the price of power paid by households is less than 10% of costs.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who has ministerial responsibility for energy and electricity, in an open letter to all electricity consumers in Linden says, “Central government is now afraid that this year’s allocated budget could run out by October or November. From then households will receive no electricity or must pay the full price.”
Meantime, in light of this, the prime minister along with representatives of the Ministry of Finance are inviting stakeholders to discuss what can be done to get through 2008 and move onto the road to sustainable electricity rates in Linden.
Hinds stated that “central government has been paying the total costs of generating the electricity distributed in the town of Linden as well as providing from time to time additional support in various ways to meet the needs of transmission, distribution and extension of electrification.”
But this situation is not sustainable in the long term, the prime minister declared.