Saying that the Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc is partly responsible for the government’s decision to rollback the electricity subsidy in Linden, resulting in higher tariffs, the AFC has said that the company must be held accountable.
In a statement read at a party news conference on Wednesday, the AFC said the people of Linden have been at the mercy of bauxite company Bosai, which it said has been given free rein by the PPP/C since 2006.
The party charged that the government allowed BOSAI to set electricity prices outside of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which is supposed to be the national electricity regulator. “This should not be allowed to continue as it clears the PUC of an important obligation, and we demand that the pricing of electricity in Linden be placed within the remit of the PUC forthwith,” it added.
In addition, AFC accused BOSAI of taking advantage of the freedom from regulation by charging an exorbitant rate for the surplus electricity it sells. “To mitigate this is why the government had agreed to a subsidy. This practice by BOSAI, therefore, must stop. They must say what they charge the distributor and the basis on which they have arrived at that charge,” AFC said.
The AFC is contending that since the electricity is produced “principally” for BOSAI’s use, the applicable pricing policy “should be marginal pricing, meaning only for the cost of producing additional power, and not total cost pricing.”
The AFC noted that when BOSAI bought the power facility in Linden it had already been completely written off.
The party said further that BOSAI also buys fuel duty free and their cost of production has to be far lower than for the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL), especially given the latter’s massive losses to the tune of 32%. “So it makes no sense for Prime Minister Sam Hinds to compare Linden’s rate with GPL,” the AFC added.
Against that background, the AFC said it is urging that BOSAI be picketed and lobbied as the company bears a major responsibility for the problem, and is also benefitting from the subsidy. “BOSAI must be held accountable as no company, no matter how much they invest, can be allowed to run slipshod over our people,” the AFC maintained.
AFC, meanwhile, also maintained that the move to gradual phase out the subsidy for Linden was an act that was “politically motivated,” after the PPP/C received few votes from the town at last year’s elections.
The party added that the move is also “most unconscionable” in light of the depressed state that Linden is in today, with some estimates placing unemployment at over 70%.
Under the PPP, the AFC contended, Linden experienced a continued decline in the bauxite industry that began under the PNC. Moreover, the party said, despite a loss in jobs from several thousand to only a few hundred today, Linden still suffers from the negative effects of the bauxite industry in the form of widespread and oppressive dust pollution.
The party acknowledged that the PPP has indeed spent significant sums of monies in Linden over the years, but noted that it has not been as impactful as it should “due to a lack of proper policies and insufficient oversight.”
