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Amid intense criticism over its apparent budget deal with the government, APNU today issued a statement calling on the government to implement a series of relief measures for the mining town of Linden before increasing electricity prices.
Linden residents are adamantly against the increase in electricity prices and shut down the town in protest on Wednesday. The APNU delegation met with President Donald Ramotar and the government team at the presidential office that day and reached a series of agreements, including raising pensions to $10,000 per month, but no firm agreement appeared to be reached to postpone the proposed electricity price increase from July. The government said in this year’s budget that it would gradually reduce electricity subsidies for Linden.
APNU has secured commitments from the government to address other issues such as the town’s chronic dust nuisance and the need for small business loans, but there appears to be no clear timeline for these issues. APNU today urged the government to implement these measures before increasing tariffs. Issues such as dust nuisance have been on the agenda for decades but have not been properly addressed and it is unclear whether this will change in the short term. Linden’s existing bauxite operator, Bosai, has repeatedly failed to meet deadlines to implement dust control measures and has set a new deadline of June 2012 for one kiln and October 2012 for another.
The press release is as follows:
“The People’s Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has reiterated its support for the rights of residents in the Linden area and Region 10 in response to a statement made by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds in the National Assembly on Thursday, April 19.
“APNU wishes to stress that its initiative to stop the unilateral increase in electricity tariffs is in support of Lindner and other residents who staged a protest in the town on Wednesday, April 18. APNU maintains that the situation in the area is such that the higher electricity tariff proposed by the government will cause unbearable suffering to residents as they cannot afford the new tariffs under the current circumstances.
“APNU also said that out of concern for residents, it insisted that certain outstanding measures be implemented in the shortest possible time. These measures include the establishment of a micro-financing business facility through the relaunch of the Linden Economic Network (LEN); liberalisation of radio and television broadcasting, and installation of a system to eliminate bauxite dust nuisance within a specific time frame.
APNU urged the government to ensure that when these systems are finally implemented, they will impose the least burden on those who cannot afford the increase in electricity tariffs. The government therefore pledged to follow the principles of “progressiveness and selectivity” in adjusting electricity tariffs.
“APNU also urges the government to ensure that relief measures are implemented before any adjustments are made to electricity tariffs.”
— Post #1315
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