Region 10 Chairman, Sharma Solomon.

Region 10 Chairman, Sharma Solomon was Wednesday night upbeat about talks with the Guyana government aimed at ending the almost one month old unrest in Linden.

“We have made significant progress again (and) I am hopeful that there is nothing that would be done to again undermine the amount of progress that was once again mad,” he told Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com).

Authorities hope that they are getting closer to resolving the matter and having protesters clear remaining obstacles in Wismar- the gateway to several interior locations. The protests were infiltrated with robbers, extortionists and other opportunists.

After government cancelled the talks last week Friday, both sides returned to the bargaining table  for three hours of talks on Wednesday.

Sharma said both sides submitted names of members of a proposed bipartisan technical committee to study Linden’s electricity sector. Government has already agreed to suspend the increase in electricity tariffs from July 1.

Te Regional Chairman was, however, sceptical about the depth of work that the committee has been tasked with. That is because vital records were destroyed by last week’s fire at a government building that housed the offices of the Linden Electricity Company Incorporated.

“I, however, remain concerned that that LECI building which was burnt down which holds vital information for this committee to work with may in some part take away from some of that investigative capacity because a lot of the resources that would have been needed were housed and stored in that building,” he said.

In relation to the liberalization of the television spectrum in Linden to provide for privately owned stations, Sharma said he was  advised that Opposition Leader, David Granger has agreed to nominate a member to the National Broadcasting Authority.

The Region 10 administration not only wants private television stations but is demanding that government returns a television channel, a dish and transmitter that was taken away and put under the umbrella of the state-owned National Communications Network.

Agreement was also reached for the regional Land Selection Committee to reflect the make-up of the region and chaired by the Regional Chairman. The Region had expressed concern that government had been allocating prime lands to its favourites.

The formulation of economic proposals that includes a package of incentives is yet to be addressed, he said.

The two sides are expected to hold another round of talks on Thursday.