The situation in the town is much more stable and there is a greater semblance of normal life with a cessation of protests and a clearing of all encumbrances of roadways and the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge.

The Linden Mining Enterprise (LINMINE) has also resumed the processing of bauxite with the restoration of electrical power, while water supply is fair, according to Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Shaik Baksh.

During his stay yesterday, President Jagdeo interacted with a wide cross-section of the society, including representatives of religious groups, the Linden Power Community (LPC), a group that was involved in protest activities against the power and water problems calling themselves the Bridge Committee, and members of the nursing and medical professions.

There had been protests in the town since the LPC generating system collapsed late last month.

President Jagdeo yesterday told Lindeners that with Guyana being a deeply religious society, religious leaders are an important voice in managing the affairs of the country.

At the meeting with representatives of religious organisations of Linden, he acknowledged the important role of religious bodies and leaders in the struggle to grapple with the many difficulties facing Guyana, describing them as a "vocal force."

He expressed the need for more structured engagements with religious organisations and urged that there should be team work among these groups, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and the Town Council in the ongoing efforts to resolve difficulties and improve the lives of people, instead of apportioning blame on each other.

There is need also for greater "grassroot" involvement in the developmental programmes and projects being executed, the President exhorted and suggested the development of a mechanism for improving that involvement.

The representatives of the religious bodies at the meeting agreed with and welcomed the sentiments and suggestions of the President and called for more regular discussions with him and the formulation of an agenda for continuous dialogue.

Consequently, agreement was reached to have an initial meeting with the President on May 6 at the Office of the President in Georgetown where the religious bodies will put forward their development programme after having discussions with their respective constituencies.

The representatives also called for greater involvement in the planning and execution of the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) being funded by the European Union (EU) to which the President readily agreed.

LEAP is an agreement under which a EURO 12.5 million, the equivalent of G$2.1B, grant from the EU was concretised between the EU and the Guyana Government to facilitate the development of Linden. Its implementation began in January last year with the signing of a contract for technical assistance.

A three-member consortium is executing the project. The consortium comprises TRANSTEC, a leading Belgian firm with extensive experience in development programmes and European Commission development strategies; JEXCO, a French firm with long experience with development cooperation and implementation of projects, and ILO-ITC a training organisation which promotes opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work.

The idea of the LEAP project was conceptualised in 1994 when President Jagdeo, then holding the portfolio of Minister of Finance, had visited and toured Linden for a first-hand assessment of the hardships faced by residents of the community and its environs, following the decline of the bauxite industry.

The objectives of LEAP are to create and strengthen viable and competitive companies in Linden; create both long and short-term jobs; improve living conditions at Linden; develop local market for business advisory and financial services; attract new investments and create employment opportunities.

Alluding to the current difficulties in Linden, the President yesterday noted that sometimes out of turmoil comes good, pointing out that the Government is committed to being non-partisan in its execution of developmental works throughout all communities, regardless of whether they voted for him or not.

He also noted that there is need for long-term planning in mining towns because the resources they possess are finite, and diversification has to be looked at during the early stages of the development stage of such towns.

He added that when the bauxite industry was doing well in the early 1970s, that was the best time to look at the prospects of diversification of economic activity, but this was not done and the process is much more complicated with fewer resources.

Addressing perceptions that the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/Civic) is discriminating against Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice), an Opposition stronghold, and that the strongholds of the governing party are allocated more resources, the President emphatically rejected the charges, declaring: "I am the President of all the people". He debunked rumours which do not examine programmes and are bent on mischief.

He said that Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) with a larger population than Region 10, received $13M for capital works last year as against $24M for the latter.

During his meeting with the staff of the Mackenzie Hospital, the President listened attentively to the problems facing them, including poor physical working conditions and difficulties relating to conditions of service.

He assured the workers that their complaints would be addressed but many of them will have to be looked at in a long term manner and would be resolved under the plan to construct a new hospital.

However, he said those issues that can be handled in the short term will be looked at as the Government seeks finance for the construction of the new hospital which is estimated to cost between $600-$700M.

The President explained to LPC workers that the power problems facing Linden have to be addressed in both the short and long term and updated them on what is being done in both cases, stressing that a reliable and affordable power supply is pivotal to the development of the community.

During his interaction with the Bridge Committee, the President listened to suggestions on what can be done to alleviate the problems of the community.

He pointed out that the Government is garnering investment for LINMINE which needs an input of about US$30M to return it to viability and competitiveness because of the competition that aluminium is facing with the greater use of plastics, especially in the aircraft industry.

He also noted the interest shown by the world's second largest aluminium company, RUSAL, a Russian entity, disclosing that he will be visiting Russia next month and try to persuade the company to invest here.

As regards the call for the involvement of residents in the managing of the Linden Television Station he agreed that one of the two broadcast channels can become a public company through the issuance of shares to the public but cautioned that they would have to obtain the finances for the conversion into a public company.