IRAQI citizens assisted by a U.S. armoured vehicle tear down a giant statue of Saddam Hussein in central Baghdad yesterday. ((c) Richard B. Levine)
Lindeners have since last week been faced with a water and power crisis caused by the shutdown of the privately owned Linden Power Company (LPC) generating system.

Information Liaison to the President, Mr. Robert Persaud yesterday afternoon said the two units are in addition to two others from Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) which were sent to the mining town Saturday, based on urgent instructions by the President, as one of several emergency measures aimed at bringing relief to the affected residents.

A lease for the two new generating units was signed yesterday, and according to Persaud, MACORP has advised the President that the two sets would be put on a ship from the United States en route to Guyana tomorrow.

Persaud, speaking with reporters at the Presidential Complex, Georgetown, also pointed out that in order to deal with the longer term situation and in light of the ailing LPC, the President met the management of Omai Gold Mines Limited with a view to accelerating their designs and construction of a new nine megawatts power station in Linden.

He said the President was informed by the Omai management that this should be completed by the end of July.

According to Persaud, President Jagdeo is very concerned about the situation in Linden and has empathised with the discomforts and the sufferings of the people of that area.

As such, he noted that Mr. Jagdeo has been monitoring very closely the efforts to bring relief to the affected residents and has directed the implementation of a number of measures which began Saturday.

The President on Monday announced that he would visit Linden and Persaud yesterday confirmed that Mr. Jagdeo still stands by that commitment and would be visiting the community.

He also announced that Prime Minister Sam Hinds would be visiting Linden today to assess the relief efforts being undertaken by the Government and to meet and interact with Lindeners.

Persaud further noted that the Government had been working with LPC to accelerate the delivery of a much needed component for its steam power plant.

He said this component was procured from the U.S. and arrived in the country on Tuesday.

Reports from Linden yesterday afternoon said technicians were in the process of installing the new component to the LPC boiler feed plant.

It is understood that should the steam power plant go into operation (expected by last night), some 7.5 megawatts of power would be generated which would be sufficient to provide electricity to most of the affected areas in Linden.

If all measures succeed, electricity supply should be back to normal by weekend, officials said.

Reports also indicated that only one of the two generating sets from GPL was in operation in Linden yesterday, providing power to only some sections of the community.

Street protests, which began over the situation last week dampened further yesterday and only the bridge across the Demerara River, linking Wismar and Mackenzie, remained blocked.

Protesters had punctured the tyres of trucks and other vehicles during demonstrations on the bridge and these remained there yesterday.

Streets which had been blocked have also been cleared and traffic has resumed in the town, reports said.

Persaud, outlining the emergency measures put in place so far by the Government since the crisis began, pointed out that the administration has been subsidising the cost of electricity to Lindeners by $1Bln annually (or $80M per month).

He also acknowledged that President Jagdeo received a letter yesterday from Leader of the main Opposition People's National Congress Reform (PNC/R), Mr. Robert Corbin regarding the situation in Linden.

According to Persaud, the President immediately responded to Mr. Corbin, both in writing and over the telephone, outlining the various measures the Government has taken and will be taking in relation to the situation in the town.

The official said the President thanked Mr. Corbin for his concerns and asked him for his party's support in dealing with the situation.

Corbin, in his letter to the President, noted that the electricity and water crisis facing the Linden community is "now unbearable".

He said reports emanating from various sources of the Government about plans to restore normalcy have been both "confusing and unreliable".

"Needless to say, the people of Linden, without television or radio reception, are unable to receive any information about these proposed plans," he said.

"The residents of Linden have been requesting for more than a week, that some senior official of the Government visit the community to inform them of the efforts being made to bring relief to the serious situation they now face," the PNC/R Leader stated.

He charged that these calls have so far fallen on deaf ears, while there continues to be no electricity at Linden despite misleading reports in several sections of the media.

"In the above circumstances, and in the interest of Guyana, I am now making a formal request for you to visit Linden to meet with me and other stakeholders of Linden, including representatives of the citizens, to explain to them what is being done by the Government to relieve them of their sufferings," Corbin said.