Latest update April 20th, 2024 12:02 AM
Jul 20, 2008 Letters
Dear Editor,
The quantum leap in electricity cost intended for Linden consumers is an added economic burden which will further derail life in the community and ultimately lead to chaos.
A once stable community with a viable and thriving bauxite industry, where wages as compared to many across the country were far above the average and many facets of community life were influenced by the company, which was also the community’s main employer and provided much for it; thus many things were taken for granted by outsiders.
In a recent article in the Kaieteur News addressing the Linden electricity issue, Peeping Tom said he “feels abused that one area could be enjoying such humongous subsidy on electricity while the rest of Guyana has to pay a tariff of close to ten times what is paid by Lindeners.” Peeping Tom’s argument is based purely on cold, harsh economic calculation, cost, profit, loss and a bit of envy ( feels abused) very mechanical, as if we were no different from the bauxite ore.
Let us all pay the same, he says, either sink or swim, the fittest of the fit shall survive – end of story. The question of social or moral responsibility does not enter his equation. He further asked, “Why should the people of Linden enjoy such concessions that are not enjoyed by the rest of the country?” He cares very little about the past and is not interested too much with the present state of things, except what Lindeners are paying for electricity as against what he has to pay.
Mr. Editor, many have seen/heard of the past glory but know not the full story. But the genesis of this low rate and the conditions that accounted for it, due in part to negotiations, still remain.
Conditions of work were/are always a major consideration for whatever conveniences and concessions were/are given to the people of the bauxite town, or dusty town, as it is popularly called by many, of which water and electricity were the most notable and cherished.
An outstanding characteristic of the community was the ever present ubiquitous dust nuisance and the magnitude of its destruction on household effects. 100% pure water free, and the community paid a token for electricity, easily a small price to pay for pollution caused, while top management and staff/engineers of which our Prime Minister Sam Hinds was among them, paid nothing. Getting the bauxite ore from the mines to the mills, thence to the ships, tells the story of the Dusty Town.
In broiling sun, pouring rain, cold night dew, some 200-300 feet below in the heart of the mines, men worked the bauxite ore, the Alumina plant, the mills, the constant deafening sounds of massive hammers, clattering chains as huge tumbling boulders are crushed.
The cruel ever present intensity from 200-300 ft long kilns that sucked men dry, a community that’s forever saturated and consumed by gray, brown and red dust that took toll on the health of many, are only part of the story.
There were many workers who spent the greater part of their lives buried within the caverns of mines. An elaborate industrial bauxite mining operation in the community did not, and still does not, function without causing serious health hazard to residents and their community. Many former bauxite workers from the mines/mills, alumina plant and other departments have stories that need to be told, which can be a case study, informing and assisting the present company and any in the future on health and safety mining practiced and effects to community/environment.
Many have complained of blindness, infection of lungs and other strange sickness/complaints. People who never smoked were ordered by doctors to quit smoking, when in fact it was only the smoke/dust from the many bauxite chimneys they were inhaling.
On the technical side, the question of how cheaper current could be generated, and other alternative source of power, I leave that to the many well trained, experienced and technical experts, who can with convincing authority enlighten us, if they are so inclined.
But I need ask how does one rest with his/ her conscience, who is receiving a super salary and pays a token or not one blind cent by virtue of his/her position, while fixing an exorbitant rate for the unemployed, low wage earner and pensioners for basic social amenities?
I am told that the Bosai Mining Operations has a regular work force of approximately 500-700, a far cry from an industry that once employed some 4-5000, and it is my understanding that they are offering their workers $3,000 to assist with proposed increased light bill. This company is the highest paying major industry. What then of the much smaller places of employment that are paying less than half of what Bosai is paying, between $3,000 – $5,000 per week. How will they manage?
At any rate, our present employment rate I’m told is about 60-70%. To pay bills one has got to have a source of income, if $5 per Kwh is unacceptable, 600% increase is murderous! The adage that by hook or crook man must live will no doubt manifest itself in devious ways, which can create more distress and discomfort, adding to an already volatile situation. Those with the ability to pay at ease, and who seem not too bothered, are not learning from what is happening daily; we will all be consumed one way or another. Let us not fool ourselves, understand that generally “crime is simply the result of a grossly disproportionate distribution of wealth and privilege,” almost “all crimes can be traced to objective socio-economic conditions.”
Any bauxite operations should be made to sign a deal of granting x amount of electricity to the community, that should be a given.
I do not know why Peeping Tom is so enthused about Lindeners “paying an economic cost like every one for electricity consumed.”
With GUYWA continuing to send house hold those ridiculous $40-60 thousand water bills and the steady rising cost of basic commodities, it seems like Linden will be well primed for other activities after the CARIFESTA celebrations.
Frank Fyffe
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
Apr 19, 2024
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