-but no word yet on payment plan
-waiting to hear from GPL
THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) of Georgetown is currently awaiting a response from the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), having submitted to the entity a number of new proposals intended to settle their ongoing disconnection rift.

This was told to the Guyana Chronicle yesterday by Town Clerk (Ag) Ms Yonnette Pluck, who said it is the Councils desire to have the government intervene in the matter to help it move forward, and that arrangements are in place for a meeting to be convened between the two parties shortly.

The M&CC is hoping that talks with the government will entail, inter alia, the latters accepting responsibility for part payment of the Citys outstanding electricity bill; GPLÆs asking consumers to contribute, on top of paying their normal electricity bill, a small fee towards street lighting; its paying for installations on all of Councils reserves; and City Hall being allowed to increase property taxes so as to meet its indebtedness to GPL.

According to Ms Pluck, none of the departments at City Hall — which includes the offices of Mayor Hamilton Green, his deputy, the public relations officer, and the information technology division — has to date been reconnected as has been the expectation, even after the Council exchanged cheques to the value of $$179,496,876 with the power company.

Meanwhile, GPL is adamant that it will only restore electricity to City Hall if the Council prepares and submits a payment plan for its outstanding debt of approximately $440M, which is for street lighting.

Deputy Mayor, Mr. Robert Williams however told this newspaper last week that the M&CC cannot yet disclose how it plans paying the outstanding sum, and that before any payment plan can be prepared and submitted to GPL, the Council must first be able to have discussions with the government.

A reliable source told this newspaper that officials from the M&CC are now changing their story with regards to the conditions surrounding the payment plan, in that they had initially agreed to submit it ôin due courseö after the exchanging of cheques.

What is City Hall quarreling about now? The plan is that GPLÆs Board will consider the proposals. Now M&CC is saying that it has to conduct an audit first before it can prepare the plan. Different issues are being raised now, the source said.

The deputy mayor said the M&CC is finding it difficult to reconcile the fact that GPL has opted not to restore power to some of the councils agencies, while choosing not to disconnect street lights.

He explained that the amount that the municipality paid over recently included sums to clear the Councils 27 properties, with only an amount for street lights remaining.

Williams questioned the reason for GPL not restoring power to the departments that were paid for while choosing not to disconnect street lights for which claims the outstanding amount.

After exchanging cheques, Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Justice Prem Persaud, said the amount issued will discharge GPLÆs rates and taxes up to and including 2009 ($116,891,749) together with $62,605,127, representing Guyana Electricity Corporations (GEC) obligation to M&CC.

He said both parties have agreed to waive any and all interest charges and that the amount does not include rates for GPLÆs property at Kingston, Georgetown, on which was built a 20.7 MW power plant.

GPL and M&CC have been at loggerheads for a number of weeks, and electricity has been disconnected from various municipal buildings, including all the departments at City Hall.

GPL had initially claimed that M&CC has been unwilling to reconcile the $600M in electricity bills owed to the Company.

After disconnecting all departments at City Hall and other municipal buildings, GPL had threatened to disconnect electricity supply to the Kitty and La Penitence markets, had the M&CC failed to honour agreements that were reached between the parties at one of their meetings.

According to reports reaching the Chronicle, however, subsequent to the intervention of the PUC, the disconnections did not take place.

Seeking the intervention of the PUC was one of three options that were decided on by the M&CC at a meeting in the Councils chamber on December 7 last as a result of threats by GPL to disconnect electricity to two municipal markets.

Seeking an injunction against GPL and having the involvement of the Minister of Local Government Mr. Kellawan Lall, were the other options available.