This was announced by President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday afternoon in an invited comment to the media, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.

Protests continued in the town yesterday over electricity and water shortage with the failure last week of the power generating plant operated by the privately owned Linden Power Company (LPC).

Protesters burnt tyres and wood in some streets of Linden and roadblocks continued to hamper the movement of people in the town.

Back-up units from the Guyana Police Force arrived in Linden last night to help maintain order.

The Mackenzie/Wismar bridge remained closed to traffic as protesters continued their vigil there.

GINA said that after lengthy discussions with the President on Saturday, a decision was taken to loan two 1.25 MW portable units to the LPC from the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL). The units arrived in Linden Saturday night and attempts were made to have them on line by midday Sunday. The units, however, developed problems.

One of the units began working yesterday and the other, President Jagdeo said, was expected to be operational by last night, GINA reported.

The peak demand of the communities, President Jagdeo said, is about seven megawatts of power, while the average demand is estimated at five megawatts.

"This would give about 2.5 megawatts and the people would have maybe 8-10 hours of electricity if those two units hold," he said.

According to GINA, the President noted that the Government was trying several initiatives to restore normalcy to Linden, while engineers continue to work on a long-term solution for power supply to the town.

"The best hope is to keep those two units that we have sent up working and maybe send up a third unit and to get the steam power plant back into operation.

"I gather that they can do so by this weekend. If that happens by weekend, we may be able to return to full or at least 80 per cent power supply to Linden and simultaneously work on a reliable arrangement," he said.

The issue of a possible sale of LPC also surfaced during the Administration's deliberations on the issue, GINA reported.

To further discuss this alternative, the President was to meet the CAMBIOR Group, parent body of the Omai Gold Mines Limited, yesterday afternoon, the agency said.

"We have said to LPC that they have to make a decision to either sell the plant now or we make some other arrangement. If we could accelerate the movement with Omai bringing forward its plant, then they can install maybe a reliable megawatt unit faster (within a month)," Mr. Jagdeo said.

Failing this alternative, he pointed out, the Government may have to lease units from abroad to provide an additional 2.5 megawatts. This however, is constrained by the time factor, since it may take about a month before the units can reach Guyana, GINA said.

The non-performance of the steam plant has also adversely affected water supply and the second unit is expected to help restore supply to some areas, for the Amelia's Ward pumping station.

The President has instructed Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Shaik Baksh, to have a newly acquired stand by generator from Georgetown released to supply power to a number of water treatment plants in Linden.

As part of the Government's emergency response, Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) will be using bowsers and other types of water tanks to provide water to all areas in Linden. GWI already has two bowsers in the area, and arrangements were made for fire tenders from the Guyana Fire Service in Georgetown to be sent to Linden yesterday to assist in transporting water to different areas.

As an additional measure, the Region 10 Administration, with the assistance of Central Government, will contract private trucks to deliver water to various locations in Linden, GINA said.

It said these initiatives were hampered to some extent by the ongoing protest in the town.

"I gather that some people are trying to block the delivery of water...we flew in some Policemen to clear the road and to speak with residents to clear the road," the President said.

Some relief was rendered yesterday as water was provided by the limited power supply from the single operating unit, according to GINA.

It said that the President noted that attempts were also made to transport a generator from Aroaima to Ituni in Region 10 to supply some level of power to that community which has been experiencing difficulties in supply for sometime now. This will be done when the roads blocked by the protesters are cleared, it added.

"I do not have a problem with ordinary people protesting peacefully, but some people are using this situation to capitalise and create confusion and steal. Some of them are even threatening officials.

"The Regional Chairman Mortimer Mingo had this experience of being threatened and those people delivering water to those communities. They are slashing vehicles' tyres," President Jagdeo said.

The President noted that these people are not above the law.

"We have some of them already on tape and the law we passed recently (the Amendment to the Evidence Act) provides for the usage of video tape to produce evidence in court...those who have broken the law, not the peaceful protesters...have committed criminal acts and they are going to face the full force of the law," he said.

GINA said he noted that while the Government empathises with residents, it must be understood that it is not responsible for LPC's failure, since it is a private company and the Administration has done its part to subsidise the electricity cost. However, the Government remains committed to a reliable solution.

"The key thing is to get power back into the area and with the power comes the water. So that is what we are working on now," he said.