The Linden protest have taken a dangerous turn leaving four dead and dozens injured as police battled to restore order and calm to the mining town.
It is most sad and unfortunate that four people died, but what has to be understood is, that it is very clear the political opposition is using the electricity tariff as the springboard to fashion its narrow and selfish agenda of destabilising the government in their lust for political power.
In this scenario, innocent people without realising it, are being used to fashion this agenda because the argument – about people in Linden cannot afford to pay the increased electricity tariff does not hold any water.
A couple of weeks ago it will be recalled that a leading member of the opposition went up to Linden and incited the people telling them in subtle words that they know what they have to do.
Reading between the lines one would understand clearly what he meant. And if per chance, one did not realise what he meant it is right before our eyes now.
It has been repeatedly pointed out that Lindeners consume as much as three times the amount of electricity as the average consumers elsewhere in the country. This obviously means that they enjoy a high standard of living because they could afford a large amount of electrical appliances. How else could they consume such a huge amount of electricity? And if they could afford this then logically, they cannot be worse off than other consumers who are using less electricity.
At the same time, there are many poor people in other parts of the country who are finding it difficult to meet the current electricity costs.
Using the argument of affordability, shouldn’t the government subsidise the cost of electricity for those people as well? In fact, if the subsidy to Lindeners was ploughed into GPL it would have resulted in a significant reduction in electricity tariffs for all consumers, But no, Linden must be given special treatment because it is one of the bedrocks of the political opposition.
So we have been down this road several times in the past. During the turbulent 1960s, L.F.S. Burnham said the Labour Relations Bill was not the ‘cause’ for the war but rather the ‘occasion’ for it. In 1997, the colour and nationality of Mrs. Jagan were not the ‘cause’ of the war. It was used as the ‘occasion’ for the war, even though she was more Guyanese than most. Today, the electricity tariff is the occasion for the war and not the cause of the war.
Earlier, the opposition initiated budget cuts, which the High Court has ruled as unconstitutional, was used as the occasion in its destabilising efforts.
The pattern is clear. The opposition strategy is clear. It will relentlessly bring pressure upon the government with the intention of bringing it down, even if it means destroying our country. This strategy was used in the 1960s and it is being reemployed once again.
However, it seems that the political opposition has not learnt the lesson that such a strategy only does harm to our country and people, but barefacedly they are saying they are putting people and country first.
But how can they be doing this when they are attempting to destroy this country. Would destroying this country help the people? It surely cannot.
Lindeners must understand that they have a constitutional right to protest peacefully, but they do not have the right to create mayhem and disrupt the peace.
They must also not allow themselves to be sucked into the narrow and selfish agenda of the political opposition and become sacrificial pawns.
Lindeners must rethink their strategy carefully and allow good sense to prevail in the interest of Linden and the entire country.
Let good sense prevail
SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp