But President Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that it is not because of the Government's indebtedness to GPL that the latter is in financial woes.

He Thursday also pointed out that GPL owes a substantial sum to the Guyana Oil Company (Guyoil).

Asked to comment on the GPL/Government impasse during a briefing with reporters, President Jagdeo pointed out that the Government and GPL were involved in an arbitration hearing in the United States, last week, and that a ruling is being awaited.

That ruling will determine whether AC Power, the major GPL shareholder, will be required to inject an outstanding US$3.45M in equity or whether the Guyana Government is in default of an agreement to implement rates for GPL.

The President noted, however, that the Government was concerned about a statement by CDC Globleq, the main backers of AC Power, about withdrawing from not only Guyana but the Caribbean.

According to Mr. Jagdeo, he on Wednesday met the principals of AC Power and they have agreed that discussions would take place between Monday and Wednesday of next week, when it would be clear whether an agreement could be reached. He said that as a result, he was not inclined to say much and preempt the discussions.

Noting that he has been assured that the negotiations were all an "act of good faith", the President said the Government was nevertheless taking steps to put in place a contingency plan.

"I want to take them at their word", he said, expressing the hope that the blackout syndrome could be mitigated almost immediately.

To this end, he said, he would be speaking with some of his officers in the various ministries including the Prime Minister's Office, the Privatisation Unit and the Ministry of Finance.

President Jagdeo said although the situation facing GPL was difficult, having scheduled blackouts cannot be a sustained solution to this problem.

Referring to the situation in the bauxite mining town of Linden, where residents are experiencing sustained blackouts which are also affecting the supply of water, he said the LINMINE bauxite company's situation is similar to that of GPL.

LINMINE and the Linden Power Company (LPC) in a joint statement Thursday evening said the LPC's steam power plant collapsed at 21:30 hrs on March 15, as a result of the failure of its boiler feed pump.

At the time, only one of the two generators at the diesel was in operation as the other was undergoing maintenance.

As a result extensive load shedding was effected across the entire Linden community until the engine which was being serviced was put into operation about an hour later, the statement said.

However, at 00:05 hrs on March 16, the same engine developed mechanical problems and after it was determined that the lone generator would supply electricity to the community on a limited basis, the operations at the mining plant were shut down at 04:00 hrs the following day.

Priority was given to the areas where the water treatment plants are located to allow for water to be supplied to the community, the release added.

In the meanwhile, scheduled work on the second generating plant was completed on March 18, thus allowing for additional power to be made available.

LINMINE and LPC, in regretting the inconvenience caused, said efforts were being made to have the boiler-feed pumps completed in the shortest possible time, and that LPC was trying to source a third feed pump from overseas.

President Jagdeo recalled during the briefing that the power company has gone into receivership and is now being administered by a receiver of the National Bank of Industry and Commerce (NBIC).

As such, part of the arrangement with the bauxite company, that of the privatisation of LINMIME, has to do with future and reliable power sources, he said.

He said the Government is hoping to address this issue in a definitive way through that arrangement, as the Cambior company has expressed an interest in the bauxite industry, not just to maintain stability but to expand its operation and production.

"Critical to all of that though, is power," the President stressed.

Reiterating that he is pleased that Cambior is in discussion with the Government about the bauxite industry, the President said he is optimistic that once they take over the bauxite industry, there will be some credible longtime solution to power supply in Linden.

To this end, he has asked both the Prime Minister's Office and the Privatisation Unit to accelerate the arrangements.

The President said the Cambior Group is due to make a presentation to him tomorrow.