An Unnecessary Tragedy

Linden Provocateurs
The reports of four deaths in Linden resulting from the Police trying to restore order in the illegal blocking of the McKenzie bridge, are deeply regretted. Human life is sacred and should not be wasted. And this is what the Opposition organisers of the protest have done: wasted these lives. It is a tragedy that could have been avoided.
We’ve been warning of the callous exploitation of the planned equalisation of the Linden electricity tariff from the beginning. And that beginning was when the AFC under the leadership of Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses Nagamootoo ran down to Linden and scuttled the Government/APNU agreement on the issue. The AFC callously introduced the incendiary and volatile element of race into the equation when they accused the PPP of being “spiteful’ to the mainly African Guyanese population of Linden and APNU of selling out.
After Wednesday’s tragedy, the AFC will have to accept much of the blame for egging on the residents into extreme action. Their activists have been ‘working’ on the emotions of the people continuously – stressing the racial angle. Obviously trying to scavenge the votes they lost to APNU, they refused to consider that they were playing with lives. In their statement on the tragedy, they prepared the grounds for escalating the tragedy: they dubbed the individuals killed, ‘martyrs”. We all know that martyrs must be avenged.
But the story on the ground paints a totally different picture: “At about 18: 00h, the officer-in-charge of the police riot unit, which had arrived on the scene, warned the protesters to move as they were blocking the bridge and were in breach of the law. The protestors, however, remained on the bridge, chanting that they will not move and will not pay any increase in electricity tariffs.
“The police again told the protesters that they were breaking the law and that they should remove from the bridge, but they again refused and began hurling bottles, bricks, and other missiles at ranks of the police riot unit. At this stage, the officer-in- charge of the unit again told them that they were unlawful and read the warning proclamation to them. The protesters continued hurling missiles at the police and began advancing towards the ranks who used tear smoke in a further effort to remove the protesters.
“Some of the protesters dispersed, but a large number of persons still remained on the bridge and began setting fires on the bridge, while continuing to chant and throw missiles towards the police. The police discharged shotguns in the direction of the crowd.”
The Fires again
It’s obvious that the outrages by the protestors had been planned long in advance. The turning off of power by the LUSCSL was intended to drive people from their homes to protest” after all, there was no water or light – no cooking. They had to have stockpiled the tires they began burning on the bridge which acted as the trigger for the widespread arson that followed. They waited until night was about to fall. They knew that in the cover of darkness, the anonymity facilitates extreme behaviour. The PPP’s office was completely razed – not by accident.
The other fires set around the town brought back memories of the 1960’s when hundreds of homes  were razed and their occupants were forced to flee with just the clothes on their backs.  Just as then, the fire service was prevented from performing their duty. It is clear that the Opposition will be ratcheting up their protests and we should not be surprised if it is ignited in Georgetown.

Let Sanity Prevail
The courts have mandated that the ERC must be funded. The Opposition must sit down at once with the government and agree on a new head. They can then move their complaints about discrimination off the streets.