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Days after new electricity tariffs were introduced for Lindeners, the Alliance For Change (AFC) is calling for residents of Region Ten community to lobby the offices of the Chinese-owned,Cheap Jerseys Free, BOSAI.BOSAI is the bauxite operating company in Linden producing the electricity.As of July 1, residents were to start paying new electricity rates, under a phased programme.The opposition had cried foul claiming the rate hike was in retaliation to the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic doing badly in that region during the General and Regional Election in November.Senior Executive of the AFC,Cheap Jerseys Authentic, Gerhard Ramsaroop,Cheap Jerseys From China, yesterday urged that BOSAI be picketed and lobbied as well, since the company bears a major responsibility for the problem.“Since the electricity is produced principally for BOSAI’s own use, the applicable pricing policy should be marginal pricing, meaning only for the cost of producing additional power, and not total cost pricing.In any case, when BOSAI bought the power facility in Linden it had already been completely written off. The company also buys fuel duty free.”Against this background, it is clear that Government cannot fairly make comparisons between BOSAI and the state-owned Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL).“Their cost of production has to be far lower than for GPL, especially given the massive losses suffered by the latter—losses to the tune of 32 per cent. So it makes no sense for Prime Minister Sam Hinds to compare Linden’s rate with GPL.”Government has been heavily subsidizing electricity in Linden for years now with the argument being used that it is a depressed area which suffered following bauxite heyday in the 70’s and early ‘80’s.The AFC official slammed BOSAI as the ones that Lindeners should really be targeting.“Moreover, they are the ones benefitting from the subsidy. BOSAI initially had also promised to build a smelter, and having broken successive deadlines, is yet to install a dust control system. BOSAI must be held accountable, as no company, no matter how much it invests, can be allowed to run slipshod over our people.”The AFC, in condemning the Government’s move to remove the electricity subsidy,China Jerseys Cheap, said it believes that the act is politically motivated, “in retribution for the justifiable rejection the PPP received from Linden at the recent polls.”It is also most unconscionable,Wholesale Jerseys, given the depressed state that Linden is in today, with some estimates placing unemployment at over 70 per cent.“Under the PPP, Linden experienced a continued decline in the bauxite industry that began under the PNC. Moreover, despite a loss in jobs from several thousand to only a few hundred today, Linden still suffers from the negative effects of the bauxite industry in the form of widespread and oppressive dust pollution.”While the PPP has indeed spent significant sums of monies in Linden over the years, it has not been as impactful as it should due to a lack of proper policies and insufficient oversight, Ramsaroop said during his party’s weekly press conference yesterday.He accused the government of allowing BOSAI to set electricity prices outside of the PUC which is supposed to be the national electricity regulator.“This should not be allowed to continue as it clears the PUC of an important obligation, and we demand that the pricing of electricity in Linden be placed within the remit of the PUC forthwith.Second, BOSAI has taken advantage of the freedom from regulation by charging an exorbitant rate for the surplus electricity it sells.“To mitigate, this is why the Government had agreed to a subsidy. This practice by BOSAI, therefore,Authentic Jerseys Cheap, must stop. It must say what it charges the distributor and the basis on which it has arrived at that charge.” |
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