With President Donald Ramotar’s attempts to visit Linden being hindered by roadblocks erected by protesting residents, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon has stopped short of saying if a visit is still on the cards.
“I need not say that endless efforts have been made and have been thwarted, preventing the president up to today, August 2nd, from responding to the calls of all and sundry getting into that community,” Luncheon told a press conference on Thursday.
Asked why President Ramotar or a senior government official did not visit Linden in the immediate aftermath of the deaths of Ron Somerset, Allan Lewis and Selwyn Bouyea, who were killed after police opened fire on protestors on July 18, Luncheon said that some difficulties were encountered.
“The president, after instructing and making arrangements for the investigation, immediately started the round of engagements in Georgetown.
By the end of the week he had already broadcast his intention to visit the community… I did identify the difficulties then with arrangements made and the fact that those difficulties persist. I would hazard a guess that the denial of access to the president would be extended to any other members of the administration seeking a similar such exercise,” he noted.
Luncheon was referring to an announced visit by Ramotar scheduled for last Saturday, more than a week after the shootings, which also resulted in injuries to at least 20 other persons.
Luncheon also said he would want to “dis” the president and suggest that someone else visit and address the people of Linden. “I think one cannot escape that perspective that indeed the gravity of the situation is what led the president representing his administration to stand forth and forward [in] the delegation,” he said.
Engagements to resolve the Linden protests, triggered by a hike in the electricity tariffs, have continued among the stakeholders, including the administration, the political opposition, Region Ten Chairman Sharma Solomon and his delegation as well as the regional chambers of commerce and members of the private sector.
Luncheon, however, noted that although some of the demands of the protestors have already been met, road access to Linden continues to be restricted, thereby preventing Ramotar from entering the township to directly address the concerns of the township. Nevertheless, he added that the ongoing engagements will continue in order to find ways to end the “standoff.”
The demands by Lindeners include the total withdrawal of the plan for phased tariff hikes for power, compensation for the survivors of those killed and the injured in the July 18 shooting, the laying of murder charges against the police allegedly involved in the deaths and improved economic and investment conditions for Region 10.
Last week Friday, Ramotar announced his intention to visit Linden to meet the residents of Linden and civic stakeholders from the community, while instructing that members of the Joint Services remove all barricades blocking the roads and bridges in order to allow unfettered access through the town.
A press statement from Office of the President (OP) had said that the Regional Chairman Solomon was expected to cooperate with the security forces in removing all obstructions on the roads and bridges. In the release, Ramotar emphasised that all Guyanese have the right to protest and represent their issues and concerns in a peaceful and law-abiding manner, but his administration would not tolerate the blockage of roads and bridges leading into and through any community.
However, army and police ranks were able to regain control of the Kara Kara Bridge, which residents had blocked with huge logs, they were unable to prevent blockages on both sides of the road leading into and out of the community. With the heads of the Joint Services indicating their difficulties in controlling protesters obstructing the Kara Kara Bridge, Ramotar, however, postponed his visit. “The Office of the President expresses regrets at the cancellation of the planned visit, particularly to those stakeholders who had assembled at Watooka House for the planned public meeting and consultations with the President and his delegation,” the statement said.
