Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon says that the adjustment to the Linden tariff subsidy planned from July 1 will be implemented at a later date when all the details of its merits have been further considered.
Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing held at the Office of the President yesterday, Dr Luncheon said that the President is also working to meet with the stakeholders with a view to bringing closure to the issue
He said that the delays in adjustment to tariff have to do with the need for more time to follow up discussions prior to the implementation. These discussions have not taken place as yet.
Lindeners had protested last week over the planned tariff increases. The tariffs were being increased because the state’s tariff subsidy was projected to expire before the end of the year.
Meanwhile the Linden Utility Services Cooperative Society Limited (LUSCSL) said it will engage Prime Minister Sam Hinds to meet with its membership to rationalise the proposals from Government for electricity rate increases and with respect to the various scenarios worked out in consultation with the people of Linden.
In a statement yesterday, LUSCSL said it has noted the various utterances in the media on the proposed increases in charges for electricity supplied to pensioners, residents and businesses at Linden.
“While we [had] been called to a meeting by [Hinds] in January of 2008 to discuss the proposed increase in charges for electricity at Linden, we had indicated since that time that as befitting our status as a Cooperative unit, we had to consult with our membership on the issue before enunciating a position,” the release said.
It said that the subsequent notice that LUSCSL received indicating that the new charges would be implemented on July 1, 2008 pressed the cooperative again to consult with its members.
“However, given the time frame between the receipt of this notice and the required period for notification to be given to members before we could have an official general members’ meeting, the LUSCSL was unable to arrive at an official position on this issue prior to the action taken by Lindeners, both from our membership and outside of this Cooperative as well, on Thursday June 19, 2008,” the Cooperative stated in its release.
The cooperative said that while the Prime Minister did issue an invitation to the LUSCSL to attend a meeting on the issue in the wake of the protest action taken by the Lindeners, “we were unable to attend this meeting, set for June 20, 2008, since our membership had already scheduled a general members meeting for Sunday June 22, 2008 and we were adamant that we consult with them and other stakeholders first before proceeding to engage any further on the issue.”
