Omai restarts operations
By Cathy Wilson
Stabroek News
April 13, 2003
Omai Gold Mines has restarted its operations after the rehabilitation of the Mabura road in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The road had been dug up by demonstrators protesting the electricity and water situation in the mining town, thereby blocking access to interior locations.
Stabroek News was informed that a grader was used in the dark hours of the morning to refill the road. The work was completed under heavy security provided by the Tactical Services Unit, since which time traffic to and from Mabura, Madhia, Omai and elsewhere has been able to pass unimpeded. Omai has begun to transport fuel into its mine site, as well as workers, and according to a Guyana Information Agency release yesterday, has now resumed its operations.
However, the main bridge linking Wismar and Mackenzie is not yet clear, and the protests by some residents of Linden are continuing.
After the Mabura road was blocked Omai had circulated flyers pleading with the protestors to allow the company access to the road. The flyer in part read, "Omai is a part of the solution!!! Omai is willing to help assist in relieving the problem. The proposal is to make three generators, with 9mw capacity, available to the community possibly from July until a more long-term solution is found.
"OGML has recommended the formation of a representative community group to work out the solutions to problems of electricity and water. Why target the very company seeking a long term solution? The very company trying to raise funds from international sources to ensure the very survival of the bauxite industry in Linden? The very company ready to find a short-term solution until that same company could be the one to provide the long-term solution? Support survival, support solutions, support alternatives."
President Bharrat Jagdeo, while at a meeting with stakeholders in Linden on Friday had said that he fully understood people's frustration over the non-supply of electricity and water. "You have a right to protest but you must protest in a way that does not disadvantage other people, and within the laws of this country," he told his audience. He said that the government could not allow a few persons to hold the entire town hostage: "That's wrong too [and] we'll have to deal with that situation."
Jagdeo said that it was not just the short-term future of Linden that was being jeopardized, but its long-term one as well. In addition to a call centre to be sited at the old Guyana Stores building and which will employ over 100 persons, the road from Brazil which should be passing through Linden could be seen as a strategy to bring economic relief to the town, he said. He remarked, however, that this could change should the Brazilians hear of the disturbances in the town; they too might not want to follow through with their plans.
He also warned the protestors that if Omai closed its operations, it might jeopardize their investment in Linmine. He condemned the damage done to property noting that justice would not be secured through such acts.
During the period of the protests, Omai suffered damage to three of its three oil tankers, two of its low-bed trucks and a dump truck. A trailer transporting timber from a concession was burnt, and some vehicles trapped on the bridge linking Wismar and Mackenzie were tampered with.
The Demerara bakery standby generator was extensively damaged along with other appliances in the shop, and a large quantity of bread and pastries stolen. A private ferryboat was hauled out of the Demerara river and destroyed when the captain refused to cease operations.
In addition, criminal elements took advantage of the situation to break into the Courts Linden branch and Lakes Electronics on Coop crescent. However, during the commission of that crime, the police in the town were able to capture one of the thieves.
One man was drowned when he was crossing the river in a small boat which sank.
Hundreds of people were inconvenienced by being forced to walk long distances to reach their destinations, and several businesses closed on account of the situation.
At his meeting with residents, the President sought to dispel allegations that Linden had been discriminated against. "I hear it on the TV how we did not give Linden its full share... They are saying that Region 6, a PPP area, gets all the money." However, he told his listeners that the budget for Region 10 for 2003 is $779M. "If you divide that by 40,000 people [an estimate given him by Chief Statistician Lennox Benjamin] you'll get about $24,000 per capita. The budget for Region 6 is $1.784M for a 130,00 people. When you add the $2B in subsidy that Linden gets on to $1B in budgetary allocation it works out to $75,000 per person per year here." He noted that that excluded the hospital cost of $225M.
Meanwhile, the power and water situation in Linden remains unstable. Up to press time sections of the town have been getting light and water on a rotational basis. An additional generating set was transported to the town yesterday to aid in the short-term supply of electricity and water.
President Jagdeo is expected to be back in Linden on Tuesday.
