Training for Hinterland Electricity Programme begins
THE 11,000 odd solar home systems being procured for Amerindian communities under the Hinterland Electrification Programme (HEP) will begin arriving in the country by November. But training members of the beneficiary communities in the installation and maintenance of them began this week, with senior personnel from Government agencies, including the Hinterland
Electrification Unit in Office of the Prime Minister, Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Guyana Power & Light (GPL) and the Electrical Inspectorate of Public Works Ministry being the resource persons
in the first programme.
Those to be trained in the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) programme are from the Amerindian communities in Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara),
Four (Demerara/Mahaica), Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Six (East Berbice /Courentyne).
The first programme is centralised at the (GPL) Training Centre in Sophia and the others in the respective 188 communities to benefit under the programme.
The training will all last for one week and the 36 participants involved are being fed and accommodated at different locations in Georgetown.
Other training programmes are to be held on location in other communities.
According to the contract awarded by the Guyana Government to the Danish
supplier company, delivery of the solar panels should begin arriving within 80 days of the signing.
The HEP is being executed under the LCDS, with the Project Management Office at the Office of the President acting as Coordinator; and Office of the Prime Minister responsible for procurement and monitoring activities, with support from the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
Mr. Horace Williams, of the Hinterland Electrification Unit at OPM, said the intention is for all the training to be completed before the panels arrive, so that, when they do, all the systems will be in place
for installation without undue delay.
President Bharrat Jagdeo first announced the solar panel project at the beginning of Amerindian Heritage Month celebrations last September noting, then, that the majority of hinterland households, which
includes 80 per cent of the indigenous population, were without access to basic electricity.
The LCDS HEP is intended to rectify this long pervading inequity, by providing access to clean and renewable energy in 10,500 households in about 188 remaining unserved Amerindian communities.
The  Head of State said that the solar systems will provide each home with electricity for lighting, small household appliances – such as sewing machines to generate income – and radios to enhance their
communication capacity.
Funds for this LCDS project should have come from a forest-saving deal with Norway but this money has yet to be released into the National Treasury.
Consequently, President Jagdeo said, recently, that Government would not wait any longer for the Norwegian funds but would go ahead with the programme using cash from the local Treasury.
The scheme will cover all components, ranging from installation, transportation, wiring, light fittings and maintenance and management training for residents.
Residents in each village will pay a monthly contribution to a fund
for maintenance services managed by the Village Council.