IT began immediately after the government had come to an amicable arrangement with Granger and Roopnarine of APNU as regards the gradual increase in the electricity tariff in that community, which saw the government conceding to a menu of measures in exchange for the tariff to remain at the same rate as before up to 50 kilowatts, with the increase being imposed to even much less than paid by other Guyanese beyond that level of usage, which anyone would agree was a reasonable arrangement; also, pensioners would still be allowed their previous rates.
Granger and Roopnarine, and the entire opposition had no dissenting voice when the Prime Minister read to the House that agreement during the budget debate.The increase was basically a mechanism to enforce conservation of electricity usage; and ordinarily, Lindeners are not unreasonable people and would in the normal course have accepted this course and moved on with their lives.
But Ramjattan, Nagamootoo, and the group pf “wild men” in the motley crew that makes up their party immediately used the opportunity to rush up to linden in a game of political one-upmanship and opportunism, told the Lindeners that APNU/PNC had sold them out to the PPP.
Granger and team, in a bid to counter those allegations, instead of being wise and mature leaders and pacifying their supporters, reneged on the agreement that they had made with the government, which would indicate that in principle they had no problem with the very reasonable incremental tariff hikes as proposed by government, which was prepared to and did compromise on issues and aspects of that arrangement to satisfy the APNU leadership duo.
So with the two opposition parties jostling for power in Linden town, egged on by the opposition media cabal, Red Thread – WPA/APNU women’s arm and their affiliates in the Roman Catholic body politic, of which Father Malcolm Rodrigues has been an active member of the WPA now APNU member, as well as Mike and Merle McCormack’s two-person show – the GHRA, the town became combustible and out-of-control, a la Buxton; this amply suited the agenda of the hungry-for-power through the back door opposition collective.
The Lindeners and their town became ‘collateral damage’ – victims of the traditional Machiavellian machinations of their own trusted leaders.  Today they are paying the price for that misplaced trust – an unearned trust, especially in view of the great achievements that have transformed that township into one ripe with promise of great things to come.  They shunned their prime minister who always fought their battles; they shunned their government which showed them a future bright with promise; and they listened to their political leaders who led them down a path of mayhem and destruction, where their recovery would be long, arduous, and supremely painful; and will never again be what it was prior to the dire events of the recent past in that township, because they have done the unthinkable – driven fear into the hearts of anyone who wanted and even had plans to invest in that community. A case in point is one U.S.-based Guyanese, who had been negotiating the purchase of land to build a water-park cum resort in that community just prior to the outbreak of the protest.
Without saying a word to his intended partners, the multi-millionaire investor packed his bags and flew out of the country with no intention of ever returning.
Even as the President tried to involve sane and non-political stakeholders in dialogue to restore Linden to normalcy, the opportunistic politicians rejected their inputs, while giving them the impression that the President refused to meet with them, which was subsequently  debunked by the President when he was finally afforded the opportunity to meet with the people themselves, as per the following excerpts from a Chronicle report:
The Head of State said that his team almost literally begged the two (Vanessa Kissoon and Sharma Solomon) to have stakeholders from Linden to be a part of the discussions, but every time they showed up for a meeting to discuss the situation in the community it was just the two, along with (APNU/PNC’s) Aubrey Norton that came as representatives from the region. The President cautioned the resident that her questions of why the stakeholders from Linden were not present at the meetings were wrongly directed and those questions should be put to Solomon and Kissoon.
Meanwhile, Ms. Teixeira said that although there was ongoing consultation on the issues that were affecting the residents of Linden, Solomon was interested in another consultation. He wanted a consultation whereby the parties at the negotiation table would agree if there should or should not be an inclusion of the local stakeholders to be a part of the meeting. The facts in this regard according to Ms. Teixeira, are in an email that was sent to her by Sharma Solomon.
In essence, while the government side wanted to include the people of Linden in the negotiations, it was their Regional Chairman Solomon and (political representative) Ms. Kissoon who refused to have their own people to be a part of the discussions.
The refusal of the two and their agents (which included Nigel Hughes of the AFC) to lock their own people out of the meeting resulted in the community not being aware of the outcomes of the various meetings that were held. In fact, the refusal of the delegation to involve the community in the talks led to the residents being in receipt of misinformation and distorted information that ultimately caused the situation to deteriorate, since residents were and are continuing to be misled and were even told that the administration was not willing to meet with them.
One resident called on the Linden people to give “jack his jacket” and said that whenever he is representing the people of Linden he likes the facts to be told. The man said that the community has been developed and residents need to be cognisant of the fact and be truthful to themselves. He said that he could not understand how people with a good heart will say that the government did not do anything in Region 10.
Yesterday a resident stood and questioned if one among them was deliberately contributing to the situation in the community  being worse than it was, and if that someone should be held accountable for the present state of Linden and Region 10.
The man recalled that he was invited to meet with the President, along with the Regional Chairman and the regional parliamentarian. The man said that he and a few others showed up early and when it was time to meet with the President, the Chairman and the Member of Parliament were not present so they were invited to meet the President in the absence of the two.
The resident, who was identified as a former Regional Chairman of Linden, said that immediately after they returned to the community the residents were angry with them (most likely from erroneous information they were again fed – as has been a continuous factor throughout the chain of events in Linden), and accused them of telling the President that the people of Linden were in a position to pay the proposed electricity increase. The man said that the wicked move by one of his own has left persons in the community referring to the group that met the President and his delegation as snitchers or informers.
It was later that same day Sharma and Kissoon turned up for the meeting hours after it was originally scheduled, but were still allowed to meet the President and his team. It is not clear if the man is accusing the Chairman or the regional parliamentarian of the offensive against him and the team for meeting with the President in their absence. The man said that the time has come for the situation to be brought under control.
Buxton has learnt its lesson and refused the joint opposition unequivocally to become their pawns once again, because they said that they were seeing progress in their community and they refused to become anyone’s political pawn, so the opposition politicians and their satellites moved in on the people of Linden.  The shooting deaths of the Linden protesters and the incidents of arson are highly suspect, because it seems highly improbable that Lindeners would burn down the school that provides their children with promise of a brighter future, as well as institutions that provide care and jobs for their citizens..
Now that opposition elements have destroyed Linden as they once did Buxton, one wonders which of their strongholds they will use next in their bid to begin a revolution in this country in their perennial attempts to achieve power through the backdoor.  Military czar Granger is even now plotting his next strategy; as is the rest of the opposition cabal; and one is left to wonder where next in the country they will turn their attention to create literal and figurative conflagration. After all, those with “blood on their hands” have no problem with shedding the blood of the nation.