Presidential Adviser on Governance, Gail Teixeira, last evening said that following another round of government and Region 10 delegation discussions, an agreement has been reached for the four areas that were under discussion, and which both parties have initialled. The Region 10 administration is expected to discuss the agreement with Lindeners today, after which they will return to the negotiating table on Monday to sign the agreement.
Ms Teixeira indicated that the initialling of the agreement by both parties indicates an agreement on the text that has been negotiated; and with the signing on Monday, both parties will be committed to what is agreed to and what is contained in the document.
“The four areas that we agreed to discuss were the issue of the tariff increase and the creation of a technical team that has specific terms of reference…committee members have been decided on…that committee will commence its work shortly… the second area of discussion surrounded the establishment of an economic team and its terms of reference which were also agreed to, and the mechanism for the appointment for the economic team…there were some interim measures agreed to while the economic committee is functioning,” Teixeira explained.
She added that both parties also agreed to and discussed the licensing in relation to the Region 10 television station, in accordance with the law, along with the mechanisms for the establishment of the regional land selection committee.
Additionally, government will hand over the dish and the transmitter to Region 10, as agreed upon in Linden when President Donald Ramotar met with Lindeners.
“As far as the government is concerned…we have reached agreement to the point of which government initialled it…we feel that today, a benchmark has been reached in terms of the amount of work that has gone on between the two sides…we anticipate that they will be in good faith and return to normalcy,” Teixeira said.
The agreement was initialled by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; Public Works Minister Robeson Benn; Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon and Teixeira; Region 10 Chairman Sharma Solomon; APNU MP Vanessa Kissoon; Vice Chairman of APNU Rupert Roopnarine; and Aubrey Norton.
“Region 10 has said that they will take the agreement to the people of Linden today so that they are informed about what agreement has been reached… we look forward on Monday to signing the agreement which will bind us to the commitments that have been made to working towards implementation of the four areas within the timeline set for those four areas,” Teixeira said.

Opportunity to work
Teixeira explained that the point which was arrived at last night has to be given the opportunity to work.
She added that the government has operated in good faith with Region 10, more so they believe that good-faith efforts have been made on both sides.
“These good-faith efforts should not be undermined…we look forward to all people that want betterment for our country, and for us to be united and to work for the development of our country…what we have achieved tonight is something that we all should be proud of,” Teixeira said.
Teixeira believes that for persons who would like to undermine what has been achieved, it is regrettable, and alluded specifically to the comments made by Working People’s Alliance member David Hinds who does not live in Guyana, but ‘hops on a plane and tells us, as a people, what to do’.
“I don’t think this is the time for naysayers or persons who feel that they know better than those of us who sat in the room hour after hour, day after day…this is the time for us to recognise that this stage we have reached is one that has to be nurtured, encouraged and built on and not to be dissected and used as an opportunity for further problems,” Teixeira explained.

Top priority
Teixeira explained that once the agreement is signed off and people get back to work, government will put in place all mechanisms that were agreed to, within a very short period of time, and the region will work towards an assessment of what needs to be done in Linden.
“The number one priority is the accommodation of the 830 children so that they can start school as quickly as possible, and I know that Minister Priya Manickchand has her heart and soul working on that…this would be a natural next step…I believe in moving things forward and returning to normalcy as quickly as possible,” Teixeira said.
In light of the recent protest action seen in Linden, against the implementation of an increase in the electricity tariff, which led to three protestors losing their lives on July 18 last, a number of protestors were injured during clashes with police, and several buildings were burn;government has been meeting with the Region 10 delegation to negotiate a solution to the problem.
During the negotiations, the protest action intensified as the joint services attempted to clear the blockages planted by protestors. As a result, they were injured and buildings were burnt.
Since the commencement of this violent protest, economic activities came to a screeching halt, not only for the township, but also for interconnecting Regions such as 7, 8 and 9.
Additionally, BOSAI and Toucan Connections were forced to close operations, as the protestors did not permit anyone to continue with their livelihoods. (GINA)