Lindeners “no show” for electricity hike protest, ANPU disappointed
Lindeners on Tuesday never turned up for a planned street protest in Georgetown, to denounce the government’s plan to increase their electricity tariff from July 1.
The protest was planned for in front the office of the president in Georgetown, however no one showed up.
The protest was organized by the main opposition A Partnership for National Unity, after the Donald Ramotar government announced last week that it will be moving forward with a plan to increase the Linden electricity tariff come July 1.
An APNU executive told Inews Guyana on Tuesday that he is “not too sure” what may have cause the protestors not to turn up but noted that efforts are being made to stage the demonstration on Wednesday, but expressed disappointment.
When asked about the residents of Buxton who were expected to join the protest, the official said they were asked not to come since Lindeners had abandoned their plans for the day’s protest.
APNU’s Aubrey Norton and Region Ten Chairman Sharma Solomon told a public meeting in Wismar, Linden Saturday that residents cannot allow the government to move forward with the plan since the region cannot afford to pay more for electricity.
“We have to be prepared to do what is required to achieve our objective. We stand at the gateway to the interior. I say no more…we must mobilize our children, we must mobilize the youth, we must mobilize ourselves and we must be ready to do what we require to stop this government from bringing repression to the people of Linden” Norton told Lindeners.
Region Ten Chairman Sharma Solomon meanwhile said that Lindeners have been able to mobile themselves and “we can shut things down so I am saying to you that our actions are not many. Our action remains one- our act is that we are not going to pay a single cent increase”.
An office of the president official in an invited comment said that Lindeners falling to show up for the protest is an indication that they are willing to part ways with the “Old PNC tactics of Street protest being the order of the day.”
When asked if the government will reconsider its position on the Linden tariff, possibly a delay in the increase, increase the official said ” I am not in a position to answer that question, you have to direct it to the relevant personnel”.