Linden residents are being challenged to “march fearlessly against injustice” as they continue their power hike protest action which today is expected to trigger a shutdown of the entire town for the next five days.
The protest will move off from the front of the Christianburg Community Centre and proceed along Burnham Drive, crossing the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge along Casuarina Drive, on to Sir David Rose Avenue and assembling at Kara Kara in the vicinity of the Toucan Call Centre where they will remain for a number of activities, including prayer sessions and addresses by community leaders, among others. Residents of the town have staged several protests in and out of Linden following the announcement of the increase in electricity tariffs for domestic and commercial consumption.
The protest so far has also seen the AFC calling on the bauxite mining company in the town to absorb some of the cost of electricity consumed by the community.
And yesterday morning hundreds of persons converged on Burnham Drive in the vicinity of the old Palm Tree cinema for one of more than thirty community meetings held over the past week.
Chairperson of the public meeting, Member of Parliament Vanessa Kissoon, announced that the meeting was designed to further mobilize and prepare residents for the planned five days of struggle and this was echoed by several other persons who addressed the residents.
The meeting was initially scheduled for the front of the Christianburg Community Centre ground but due to court being in session it was moved to the Drive location.
According to Regional Chairman Kuice Sharma Solomon reality is finally kicking in as persons in the business community have now come to grips with the consequences of the higher electricity bill.
He said that a recent meeting with businessmen was an eye opener. According to Solomon the thirty-odd community meetings were also very fruitful since they were able to explain in detail the realities of the tariff increase.
He said that with the increase the already pressed residents would be the ones to face the brunt of the hike.
“What will happen is that the businesses will throw the cost on the residents and then residents would not be able to afford the cost of commodities and the entire community of Linden will be the ones to suffer.”
