LINDEN protestors yesterday relaxed their stance to allow movement for fuel supplies to BOSAI Power Plant, and a funeral procession. However, the town remained relatively quiet as the initial five-day protest entered into its eighteenth day yesterday, and residents remained resolute in their opposition to the July 1 hike in electricity tariff for consumers in the mining town.
As government and Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice) officials continued their discussions on a way forward, hopes were kept alive as diesel was allowed to be brought from the Omai Wharf at Wismar to refuel dwindling supplies at the Bosai Power Plant in Mackenzie.
Some 40,000 litres of diesel were brought in four tankers to BOSAI. This fortified existing supplies to ensure that power generation is not disrupted to the township, as the threat of intermittent blackout loomed.
The Burnham Drive roadway was cleared temporarily to allow the passage through and across the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge, which was also made passable when the stones which were scattered along the route on the Washer Pond Road going top the Bosai Power Plant were removed.
Some amount of traffic was also allowed to move past the blockage which exists at Bamia, where passengers have to cross to have any chance of reaching Georgetown. Special minibuses and taxis are operating in a limited way to allow for movement to and from the city.
However, the roadway is largely impassable, and any hope of a freeway around the town, especially by large vehicles and even cars, remained dashed.
At the same time, there was provision for persons attending a funeral yesterday to be transported by bus from Amelia’s Ward to the burial site at Bamia and back, as the road blocks were removed just for the mourners to travel to Bamia and back to Linden.
And as the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge was released to vehicular traffic yesterday, the Kara Kara Bridge, a main artery to reach Linden, was still blocked with large piles of lumber across the bridge, as residents stood their ground against the rise in electricity charges.