—daily three-hour power cuts announced for system checks
Linden residents yesterday protested outside the Linden Utility Services Co-op Society Limited (LUSCSL), demanding reliable electricity and water supplies, while the society announced daily three-hour power cuts during a seven-day examination of its distribution system.
Residents complained that persistent blackouts were disrupting businesses and leaving households without water, with some reporting that they were spending $8,000 a week to purchase water.
“No water, no light, you all guh get it right,” protesters chanted as they urged passers-by to join the picket and called on officials to come downstairs and address their concerns.
Former Linden mayor and APNU parliamentarian Sharma Solomon, who streamed part of the protest live on his Facebook page, said residents had endured unstable electricity and water supplies for several months.
Guyanese should receive these basic services every day, rather than intermittently, he said, arguing that the country had sufficient resources to address the problems.
“We have too much in this country for people to be suffering for light and water,” Solomon said.
He said small business operators were complaining about the impact of the interruptions. When electricity went, the water supply also went, he said, adding that residents were exercising their right to demand dependable services.
Protesters complained of repeated blackouts over the past week and questioned how children were managing at school when water supplies were unreliable.
A vendor held a placard declaring: “Wismar Market, we fed-up.”
The protesters said electricity interruptions affected both household activities and their livelihoods. They maintained that the demonstration was not about politics, since residents were suffering regardless of which party they supported.
Meanwhile, Region Ten Regional Education Officer La Shanna Anderson, speaking in a Facebook video, criticised teachers whom she accused of sharing protest messages with parents and encouraging them to keep children away from school.
“I have seen evidence of teachers sharing protest message to parents. What madness is happening? Since when it is the work of the teachers to advertising protest?” Anderson asked.
She said teachers were paid to be in school delivering the curriculum and should not be promoting protests or encouraging parents to keep children at home, which she described as “foolishness”.
Anderson called for teachers to be reminded of their responsibilities.
“We cannot allow this thing to get out of hand,” she said.
In the excerpt, Anderson did not identify the teachers concerned or detail the messages she said had been circulated.
Extensive
In its notice dated November 2, LUSCSL said its management and that of the Linden Electricity Company Inc (LECI) had met that day following extensive power outages over the weekend.
The society described those interruptions as unfortunate and said both entities were working continuously and collaboratively to address longstanding problems.
“As part of our commitment to provide reliable electricity, we pledge to conduct an extensive survey of our distribution system over the next seven (7) days to identify and resolve any further potential issues,” the notice stated.
Scheduled outages would take place daily from 1 pm to 4 pm. The notice did not identify the areas to be affected or specify the faults being investigated.
Management apologised for the inconvenience and asked consumers and members for patience while efforts were made to improve the service.
In a separate recent notice, LECI attributed an outage affecting the community to a problem at Bosai’s power plant.
“BOSAI’s Technicians are working to remedy the problem at the moment,” the company stated.
It apologised and said every effort would be made to restore electricity in the shortest possible time, but did not specify the problem or give a restoration time.
The protest comes against a background of electricity shortages and interventions intended to stabilise Linden’s supply.
Kiskadee Watch reported in August that LECI had announced load-shedding for Mackenzie after electricity demand exceeded available generation. Residents and businesses in affected areas were scheduled to experience interruptions lasting between four and five hours. Government officials had reported peak demand of approximately 15.1 megawatts against generation of approximately 14.1 megawatts. [
A 1.5-megawatt portable generator was subsequently commissioned at Bosai’s Linden powerhouse, increasing electricity supplied to Linden and Wismar from approximately 14 megawatts to 15.5 megawatts. A second unit was expected to increase supply to approximately 17 megawatts, Kiskadee Watch reported in September.
However, the reliability of the service remained a point of contention. Solomon said Linden experienced 10 outages during the government’s September 2–3 Cabinet outreach. LECI disputed that account, saying its records showed two community-wide interruptions followed by the restoration of electricity to different sections at different times.
The company attributed those interruptions to a fault-related incident affecting the Bosai plant and a lightning strike. Solomon maintained that the broader concern was whether Linden’s generation and distribution systems could reliably serve residents and accommodate further development.
Unplanned
Meanwhile, the Guyana Water Inc yesterday notified about unplanned interruptions in service.
Customers in the following areas it said are unfortunately affected:
📍Wisroc Park
📍Block 22
📍Phase 1 B& Phase 2 B
📍One Mile Extension
📍Blue Berry Hill
📍Green Valley
📍Cholmondeley Hill
📍Wismar Hill Housing Scheme
📍One Mile
📍Half Mile
📍Canvas City
“These areas are served by the Wisroc Water Treatment Plant. The interruption which you are experiencing to your water supply is due to a power outage which is affecting operations at the facility. The technical team has engaged LECI to rectify the issue as soon as possible.
“GWI sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience, and we encourage the public to report water disruptions or visibly damaged GWI pipelines and other infrastructure to 227-8701. Stay connected to our Facebook page for more updates.”, GWI said.
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