‘Bringing Linden to Its Knees’: Lewis Escalates ‘Economic Genocide’ Charge Against PPP

The escalating battle over Linden’s toll revenue has revived a much broader charge by veteran trade unionist and Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) General Secretary Lincoln Lewis: that economic policies pursued by successive People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administrations, dating back to the Bharrat Jagdeo presidency, have systematically weakened Linden and inflicted lasting damage on its predominantly African working-class population.

Lewis has described that alleged pattern as “economic genocide”—a term he first used in relation to Linden years ago as the once-thriving bauxite town experienced industrial contraction, job losses and declining economic opportunities.

In his Eye on Guyana August 30 opinion piece, addressing  “The Linden Bridge Issue,” Lewis argued that the current dispute over municipal revenue must be viewed against that longer history.