THE Government of Guyana and the Region 10 Administration last evening affixed their signatures to the historical Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Commission of Inquiry (COI). The agreement was signed by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who represented the Government of Guyana; Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) Chairman Sharma Solomon represented the regional administration, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine who represented A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Khemraj Ramjattan who represented the Alliance For Change (AFC). The agreement was signed in the Cabinet Room of the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive in Georgetown.
The major issue within the agreement is the electricity tariffs and in this regard the agreement states:
“That the situation of electricity tariffs in Linden will remain at the pre-July 1, 2012 rates and the implementation of a future tariff regime in Linden will await due consideration of the findings and recommendations of the technical team”
Speaking after the signing of the agreement, Mr. Hinds said that living in harmony is most important and that it  comes about only with several other things being in place.
He said that the government has always been motivated  inspired by  working for equal rights for all Guyanese, but at the same time it is being constrained by the goods and services that are available to Guyana.
He called for the improvement of harmony in our country and said that there remain significant differences between people and the way they do things. He said that the period of unrest had stemmed from very many differences and the government is pleased that an agreement has been reached.
He said it is expected that the major issues would be reviewed by others who may not have been deeply involved as the two sides that signed the document and whose judgment and recommendation will be found to be acceptable by all sides.
The Prime Minister said that he hopes that the signing will be the first step of a great change in Guyana and will foster common understanding of how things are and how things have been.
Meanwhile, Region 10 Regional Chairman, Sharma Solomon said that the regional administration sees the agreement as the first step of  recognition by the Government of Guyana of the people’s constitutional right to self determination, economic, social and political.
He said that the signing is an achievement for Guyana and shows what people can achieve. He said that the next stage is its implementation of the things that were signed onto, while noting that the regional administration of Region 10 is prepared to trust the national leaders and the government with the implementation of the TOR.
Witnessing the signing yesterday were Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh; Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn; Presidential Advisers, Gail Teixeira and Odinga Lumumba; Region 10 Member of Parliament, Vanessa Kissoon; Aubrey Norton and AFC executive member Dominic Gaskin.