More TV licences to be granted … as Granger, Ramotar continue Extra-Parliamentary Budget talks
• Linden Electricity Tariff increase to be gradual
• access to business financing for Lindeners to be re-activated
By Gary Eleazar
President Donald Ramotar, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon, Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh and Presidential Advisor on Governance Gail Teixeira in discussion with leader of A Partnership for National Unity, David Granger, and members Rupert Roopnaraine and Carl Greenidge (GINA Photo)
Extra-Parliamentary talks/meetings between A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Head of State Donald Ramotar, continue to bear fruit as was reported to the House by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
The Leader of the Government side of the House yesterday disclosed – even as the Members of Parliament were about to continue perusal of the budget estimates in detail – that Brigadier (rtd) David Granger and his APNU delegation had met with Ramotar to “avoid unnecessary collisions in the exercise we are engaged in.”
According to Prime Minister Hinds, the Government has since agreed to, upon application, issue several more televisions licences for the people of Linden, as well as the remainder of the country.
“In relation to television stations which exist in Georgetown and the coast, being available in Linden and across our country, our government will shortly be granting, on application, additional over the air television broadcast licences all over Guyana including Linden.”
On the issue of the increase in electricity tariff for Lindeners, Hinds reported that while the streamlining of the tariff with that of GPL is inevitable, Government has agreed to have the increases effected in a more gradual manner.
“It was agreed that alignment with the GPL tariffs and elimination of the electricity subsidy was necessary. It was also agreed that the tariff adjustment would proceed from 2012 guided by the principles of gradualism and selectivity with the transition to aligned tariffs being introduced in a differentiated manner that cushions the impact on the most vulnerable consumers.”
Prime Minister Hinds reported to the House also that coming out of the meeting between Granger and Ramotar, the Government has agreed to explore ways in which small business activity could be encouraged in Linden.
Hinds said that it is in this vein that “government undertook to re-activate the post LEAP/LEAF facility now known as LEN (Linden Enterprise Network) aimed at promoting affordable access to financing by small businesses.”
He also disclosed that the Government has undertaken to engage the Financial Services Sector, on the possibility of establishing small business financing facilities in Linden along the lines of the WOW (Women of Worth) programme “also aimed at promoting more affordable access to financing.”
The Prime Minister prefaced his announcement by reminding the House that following the request by APNU’s Volda Lawrence on working together on Budget 2012, the Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh “confirmed government’s continued availability to receive views from stakeholders and to consider these, provided that the matters to be discussed were documented and that the schedule for the consideration of the estimates was adhered to in its entirety.”
Hinds said that “the Government believes that these meetings have been useful in creating a wider and better understanding of the inevitable, specific trade-offs in the fashioning of our nation’s budget and in avoiding unnecessary collisions.”
On expanding on the electricity situation, the Prime Minister told the House that the special historical circumstances surrounding the subsidy for the people of Linden was fully taken into account. He said that the discussions also surrounded the considerable allocations to the electricity sector in the form of a $6B bailout of Guyana Power & Light Inc. (GPL).
According to Hinds, the discussions on Linden focused on what can be done to ease and make the “good” transition of Linden into a regular town, “and the greater inclusion and participation of all of Region 10, into the programmes and fortunes of Guyana as a whole.”
The Prime Minister also stated that “it was further agreed that the first stage of the tariff adjustment this year, would be implemented along the lines outlined in a manner that would ensure adherence to the allocation provided in Budget 2012 bearing in mind applicable budgetary constraints.”
The announcement by the Prime Minister came one day after a protest in the mining town where the activities of the community were severely curtailed as a reaction to the proposed electricity tariff increase, along with a perceived neglecting of the community.