Linden protests hurting investments, businesses

Lindeners stand to lose the most as they continue to participate in the opposition-backed and organised protests in the mining town, burning public buildings, blocking roads and destroying private properties.

This is the position of President Donald Ramotar, who said that it is time for the community to return to a state of normalcy as the resumption of talks on the way forward commences.
Ramotar felt strongly that the protests in the mining town would have a significant impact on the investment climate there, and business as a whole. He told journalists gathered at the Office of the President at a media briefing that already he was receiving calls from business personnel and investors in the Region 10 community, who are second guessing their expansion plans there.
“I wish to stress that these developments are harming the investment and business environment in the region, the Linden township and the entire country,” he offered.
The bauxite company, Bosai which employs more than 500 Lindeners has been closed for several days now. No work is taking place in either the administrative arm of the company or in the field as the protests continue.
The Bosai head office was also burnt to the ground by angry protestors.
“The company has informed me that it is reconsidering some further expansion of their business,” the head of state disclosed.
Ramotar said that he was informed that a proposal to halt investment until things return to some form of normalcy has been proposed at the level of the company’s board of directors.
“We spoke of gradualism and selectivity then, and we are prepared to discuss this proposal once again. My administration is repeating its willingness with all stakeholders in order to find the best approach to bring Linden, over a specified time, to the same rates as the rest of the country. However, fruitful discussions cannot be had in the atmosphere that currently prevails, but we are ready to discuss all of these matters with all the stakeholders once normalcy is restored,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Linden’s Toucan Expressions, which is a call centre that provides more than 150 Lindeners with jobs, has also had its operations stymied by the opposition-backed protests in the town. President Ramotar said that “the company could lose its overseas contracts if the situation continues.”
“The domestic business sector in Linden is also being affected as many workers are afraid to go to work and prefer to stay in the safety of their own homes,” he explained.
He was convinced that there is need for “cool” and “sober” minds and heads to decide the way forward on the Linden debacle.
“… Linden will suffer a great setback if these developments are not brought to an end soon… the Linden community is being and has been deliberately and terribly misinformed by some extremists and well-known political activists with regards to the well-known increased electricity tariffs,” he said.
The president said that the Linden tariff increase was not new, nor was it thrown down the throats of Lindeners. He advised that former Prime Minister Forbes Burnham had spoken about the need to bring the mining town onto the national grid several years ago.
“We have spent billions of dollars in subsidy and all the generation of fuel is being done with the use of fossil fuel… the price of (this)… fluctuates fairly widely… the position has become fairly unsustainable… the people of Linden have not been told the real truth… we have never tried to remove all of the subsidy at one go…”, the president said.