The termination of a contract related to an electrification project has prevented four communities from being powered with electricity. However, the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is working to address the issue, its Project Engineer Omar Narine has assured.

In its quest to fulfil its promise to the people of Guyana, CH&PA commenced a $745M Electrification Project in 2017 targeting 16 government-led communities across the country. However, the project encountered some hiccups when one of the contractors was unable to deliver.

In an interview, Narine said that the CH&PA was scheduled to complete the project in December 2017. However, it has been delayed because of termination of one of the contracts.

“That terminated contract was for the supply of conductors [and] cables for four of the areas. Unfortunately, those areas are Onderneeming on the Essequibo Coast, Five Miles Bartica, Lust-en-Rust and the Commercial and Industrial Zone at Little Great Diamond,” he said.

The Project Engineer further explained that as a result of the terminated contract, there is no cable to supply those four areas with electricity. However, he gave the assurance that an alternative plan is being considered.
“I have already discussed this with the CH&PA board. I have already discussed this with the minister. All the green lights have been given, so we will try to bring in back those areas for August of this year,” Narine said.

The electrification programme in the other 11 communities such as Farm on the East Bank of Demerara, has been successful and was handed over to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL).

The schemes targeted under the CH&PA’s electrification programme are Onderneeming, Region Two; Zeelugt and Lust-en-Rust in Region Three; Hope/Experiment and Baltyrock in Region Five; Kilcoy Chesney, Region Six; Bartica, Region Seven; and Peters Hall, Farm, Covent Garden, Diamond, Eccles, Barnwell, Paradise and Enmore in Region Four.
Back in September of 2016, Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Adams Patterson-Yearwood allocated some $900 million for the electrification project in housing communities for 2017. Altogether, some 38,000 homes are expected to benefit from the service of the government’s housing unit.

The project is in response to complaints of the unavailability of electricity and other infrastructure in some of these areas. The CH&PA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Leon Saul had explained that the aim of the CH&PA is to create communities, moreover, communities that are equipped with the basic living requirements such as electricity. In establishing communities, the authority is mandated to ensure that the requirements such as electricity, roadways and the supply of water are provided.