LINDEN residents yesterday effectively crippled the flow of vehicular traffic entering and leaving the community as they continued blocking the roadways and burning debris as part of the their five-day protest action  taken against the electricity tariff increase.
The five-day protest entered its fourth day yesterday, and all eyes are looking to see if the protestors will continue their action beyond the initial five-day shutdown of the community as promised early last week.
Speaking with a very reliable source who was on the ground yesterday afternoon, the Guyana Chronicle was informed that while protestors are not hostile and confrontational as had obtained in the earlier days of the protest, they continue to make the work of the lawmen very difficult by replacing debris as fast as the police and army could remove them.
In an effort to explain exactly how this was being done, the source said that when the police remove two pieces of wood, the protesters replace those with five pieces, or double the amount removed.
The source also mentioned that several Members of Parliament travelled to Linden yesterday, and were having discussions with residents. The source said it is hoped that the discussions being held with the residents will bring some calm to the situation in Linden.
Among the MPs spotted in the area yesterday were A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Chairman, Rupert Roopnaraine and Alliance For Change (AFC)’s member, Valerie Lowe.
Asking to remain anonymous, the source confirmed that several persons from the community have been arrested for looting a Digicel store there as well as breaking into the township’s Post Office.
On Friday night, the community was hit with a power outage that saw persons taking the opportunity to loot and break into buildings. Items were reportedly carted off from the Digicel store in the area. However, up to press time, the police could not say if the Post Office had lost anything significant.
Started on Wednesday, July 18, the Linden unrest had by yesterday morphed into a situation of thuggery and skulduggery.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Chronicle was reliably informed that some unscrupulous police and army ranks have been demanding money from miners who have been trying to pass through the area, especially those coming out of mining camps.
Yesterday, the brother of a miner contacted this newspaper to inform us that his sibling had had to pay a total of $25,000 to the police, the army, and in some cases, the protesters also.
The Guyana Chronicle yesterday placed random telephone calls to Linden numbers listed in the telephone directory, so as to get an idea of what the situation was like on the ground. On each and every occasion, residents requested that their names be omitted.
Some claimed they will continue the struggle for the reduction in their electricity tariff. Others explained that while they see the need for protest action to get the government’s attention, they are very annoyed and concerned about the level of unlawful activities currently taking place, which can eventually spill into more unfortunate outcomes for the community.
The residents spoke specifically to the level of thuggery and the unlawful breakage and burning of buildings that clearly will force the government to take action in an effort to protect the assets of the State and law-abiding citizens.
One man said he would like this newspaper to send a message to the Government of Guyana on behalf of the law-abiding citizens of the community to take a firm stance and do whatever is necessary to bring the community to a state of normalcy.
He said that residents are afraid to make the calls publicly or any other way because of the victimisation they are likely to face and the anger that will be channelled towards them by those in the community who wish to see the situation continue, and in some cases get even worse and out of control.
Some residents of the community are calling for the situation to be brought under control as it continues to hamper the productivity of the community and the community continues to experience  loss of incomes.
On Friday, at an emergency press conference, President Donald Ramotar ordered that there be a sense of understanding as he called on cool heads to prevail in addressing the situation at this time.
On Wednesday the police shot dead three persons who were protesting in the community. The police had claimed that the shot protesters were advancing towards the lawmen and the shots were fired.
However, the residents refuted those claims, saying that the police antagonized them so as to have reason to use force.
On Friday, the President was asked why the Guyana Police force did not use the water cannon to deal with the protesters and the crowd, and in his response, he directed that query to the Commissioner of Police.
On Friday, too, the joint services team operating in Linden had to request the helicopter to fly the dead protesters to the city. The bodies were flown to the city, where post-mortems  are expected to be conducted on them. The chopper was used because of the inability of the police and the army to transport the bodies via road.