Lindeners block bridge in power protest
Pledge to continue demonstration today
By Cathy Wilson
Stabroek News
April 5, 2003
Lindeners stepped up a protest yesterday over dwindling power supplies by blocking a key bridge causing a traffic pile-up on both sides of the Demerara River and they vowed to continue their action today
The group marched from Burnham Drive in the vicinity of the Demerara Bakery, a business owned by the manager of the beleaguered Linden Power Company (LPC) Steve Bovell, and converged at the Mackenzie Bridge where they stopped vehicles from crossing.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene long lines of vehicles snaked along both shores. About eight vehicles were trapped on the bridge coming from both ends. Some passengers and drivers of the trapped vehicles said that they decided to join the protest as they too were feeling the effects of the power outages.
Short-drop buses which run from Mackenzie to Wismar were forced to change their route. Those that were trapped on the Wismar end transported passengers to Burnham drive and those desirous of getting over to Mackenzie had no other alternative but to cross with the ferry boats. As for those buses trapped on the Mackenzie end it was the end of their working day. A number of route 72 buses that were on their way into and out of Mabura were also among those trapped.
The driver of a Mayor and Town Council truck told Stabroek News that he was caught in the protest. He said that at the time he was taking over five gallons of water to the Wismar Day Centre when he was trapped. “I tried to convince them to allow me to pass to transport the water. But they were very unreasonable.” He said that a protester pelted him on the forehead. This was evident by the bump on his forehead.
An MFK Trading truck was caught in the middle of the bridge as it was crossing to do distribution on the Wismar side. However the protesters assured the driver that he would not be inconvenienced once he cooperated. The driver said that he contacted his boss by phone and informed him about the situation. He was advised to remain calm and wait until he was given a chance to go free.
A funeral procession was also stopped. The grieving family relatives and friends were forced to bear their dead by hand across the bridge. The protesters expressed their regrets to the family and arranged to have a tractor that was on the Wismar shore transport the coffin to the Christianburg cemetery. Those who were in other vehicles in the procession had to cross the ferry and be taken to the ground by other vehicles that were on the Wismar side.
Additionally, members of the Linden Ambulance Brigade had to transport an accident victim by stretcher across the bridge to the Mackenzie hospital. The injured person was involved in an accident where a car turned turtle on its way to fetch water at a creek in Christiansburg.
They protesters said that during the early stages of the protest three police officers turned up at the scene but left shortly after. They returned with four others and a scuffle ensued. It was reported by the protesters that a young man was about to make his way off the bridge when he was pushed by one of the officers. They carried placards reading `we used to give Georgetown light why we can’t get it right’, `Are we in Baghdad?’, `We are discriminated against by government’, `Where is the PPP government? Are they in Iraq?’, `We have been neglected no light no water’, `Linden will become Buxton if we don’t get attention’.
Sometime later in the afternoon as the crowd grew the protesters solicited funds from each other and took two large coal pots to the centre of the bridge where they cooked and fed themselves.
It was announced that the protest would continue throughout the night. “The Linden Bridge Watch from 6 pm - 6 am” was how they described the action.
On the 6 o clock hour the protesters let the air out of all the vehicles that were caught on the bridge with the exception of the MFK truck.
Around that time the crowd had grown from approximately 80 to hundreds. The number of vehicles caught in the trap had also grown. However, the commander of the police E&F Division of Region #10 was seen informing several vehicles that were not from within Linden, to park their vehicles in the Wismar and Mackenzie police station compounds where they were assured of full security.
It has been planned to block the Linden-Soesdyke Highway today from 6 am in an attempt to stop traffic from Linden or Georgetown.
