Dear Editor,
The context within which Prime Minister Sam Hinds is using the 1976 electricity statement by then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham to justify a single supplier and electricity hike in Linden, is a total fabrication. The period he alludes to, the then bauxite company, GUYMINE, was producing excess electricity. It was because of this excess supply, coupled with the national electricity expansion programme, the Burnham administration argued for the excess power being put into the national grid. To this end a sub-station was established off the Washer Pond on Industrial Road, and power lines were run along the Linden-Soesdyke highway feeding supplies into Georgetown and its environs. This is the backdrop to the issue, which Mr Hinds is aware of, but chooses to be deceptive about.
The Prime Minister’s reference to the government’s intent to “merge the supply area of Linden Utility Services Co-op Society Ltd (LUSCL) into Linden Electricity Company Inc (LECI),” is deserving of attention (SN, April15), for this proposed merger poses a threat to the survival of LUSCL, which is a company owned by the people. LECI, on the other hand, is a state-owned entity and is under the chairmanship of trade unionist Carvil Duncan, who since 2007 refuses to uphold the labour laws and respect the rights of workers employed at the company. LECI also does not supply the areas LUSCL supplies. To its credit LUSCL has pioneered electricity distribution to Christiansburg in the north and West Watooka in the south, inclusive of Wisroc on the West Bank of the Demerara River in the Linden community.
Thus the merger proposal not only seeks to destroy the ingenuity and economic self-determination of a people, but it will put these entrepreneurs and their loved ones on the breadline. Further, this will be escalating poverty in Linden and its environs. It is also disturbing that this draconian proposed increase has been decided upon without consultation with the people, which is a violation of their constitutional right to participate in national decision-making that impacts their well-being.
It should be said the government boast of subsidising electricity to Lindeners is an attempt to distort the truth behind their action. For their action is not one of benevolence or social welfare. The current electricity rate Lindeners pay is the result of the government’s decision to sell the bauxite operation, the non-renewable mineral resources, together with the workers’ sweat equity, for US$1.00. Sweat equity in trade union language speaks to a deferral of wages/payment for work done in return that such money be invested and benefits subsequently derived from said investment(s).
Bauxite workers made up-front sacrifices by forgoing some aspect of their earnings so that such can be invested in areas of electricity and water. Additional to the destruction of their sweat equity, their contributory pension and thrift plans were destroyed by the PPP government. This pension plan was worth in excess of $2.5 billion and was the single largest pool of money owned by Africans. The efforts made by the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union (GB&GWU) to save this plan were ignored by the government. Similarly too, the government ignored requests to assist the industry with US$14M for retooling and bauxite workers securing ownership of the industry. Now LUSCL is targeted. This company remains a symbol of hope and is among the last bastion of the collective economic will and power of a people.
Lindeners play a major role in Guyana’s economy and at critical moments paid the salaries of other government workers, even as they simultaneously accepted income/benefits below the market value for their skills in recognition of the bigger picture. Contrary to the propaganda which is being disseminated, Lindeners are not freeloaders, neither are they lazy. Since November 1992 the bauxite communities have been waging a valiant struggle to have their basic right to self-determination respected, be it economic, political, social, and/or cultural. A right this government seems bent on destroying.
Reeling from high unemployment and heavy reliance on subsistence employment, Lindeners cannot afford to pay the increase. Further, pensioners have no money to pay any increase, when their economic sustenance is severely restricted, having been placed in this position by this very government, leaving them with income only from NIS and social security pensions. The conditions of life Lindeners currently experience is not of their making, but rather imposed on them by a vindictive and discriminatory government.
Amidst the imposed deprivations the Prime Minister has the temerity to say: “[t]he initial adjustment would be disruptive, yes, but the pain would pass…” This statement comes from a man who feels no pain because for years he has been living off the sweat of the overburdened taxpayers; does not pay for electricity and many other basic amenities the ordinary workers struggle to pay. In fact, when the Prime Minister retires under the oppressive president’s retirement package, the workers have to continue to fund his uncapped lifestyle as they simultaneously struggle to make ends meet for themselves and loved ones.
This government lacks compassion and feeling for the masses, and the Lindeners’ stance in the face of continued efforts to destroy their well-being is commendable. For anything worth having is worth fighting for.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
