No plans to remove electricity subsidy from Region 10 – VP Jagdeo assures

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that the PPP/C Administration has no plans to remove the electricity subsidy currently being enjoyed by residents of Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
He made this position known via a social media on Saturday evening in response to remarks made by Leader of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNC/R) Aubrey Norton during an outreach to the community.

“Reeling from his rejection by the people of Linden as evidenced by the poor turnout at his meeting, Aubrey Norton has embarked on his familiar acts of deception and desperation. The most recent of such is his peddling of the lie that the PPP/C Government plans to remove the electricity subsidy from Region Ten. This is totally untrue as the government has no such plans,” the Vice President contended.
“Guyanese should therefore not fall prey to Norton’s attempt to mislead and cause panic,” he added.
The electricity costs for residents in that region are significantly subsidized by the government. Reports in 2014 indicate that Lindeners pay $5 per kWh while the rest of Guyana pays $64 per kWh.
In fact, in that very year, $3.2B was budgeted to maintain the subsidy in Linden and Kwakwani so that 10,500 electricity customers in the region can continue to benefit from the rates that are highly subsidised.
The PPP/C administration has made it clear that there are major plans in the pipeline for the development of Region Ten.
In the 2022 budget, the region has an allocation of $5.3 billion in total. The sum of $1.1 billion is for health services, $352 million for public works, $75 million for agriculture and $281 million for regional administration and finance.
One of the major initiatives that is being undertaken by the government is the construction of the Caribbean Development bank (CDB) funded Linden to Marbura Hill road project.
The road works include upgrading the existing alignment to asphaltic concrete surface; 2 lanes spanning 7.2 metre width; and 122 kilometres with the inclusion of five drainage structures.
In 2021, Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill, had reported that a multi-million-dollar waterfront development project was in the bidding process. He had reported that a total of $30 million is expected to be expended in the first phase of the project.
The projects will see a host of benefits including job creation in the township, and the expansion of the mining town’s river and eco-tourism potential.