PRIME Minister Samuel Hinds has written an open letter to the leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan asking the party to reconsider its actions with respect to the budgetary cuts to the subsidy for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL).

The letter was written in response to an article in the AFC column of last Sunday’s Kaieteur News, in which the party claimed that GPL is a liability to the people.
During a press conference at Freedom House on Robb Street, Georgetown yesterday, the PM advised that a copy of the letter was also sent to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Leader, David Granger.
He related that in his letter he pointed out that rather than being seen as a liability, GPL is deserving of the allocations in the budget. He further noted that there is a lot of money involved in running an electricity company that serves about 90 percent of the country.
Moreover, he stated that the government, as owner of the company, is often called upon to fund improvements and rehabilitation, noting that demand has grown from approximately 30 megawatts to about 87 megawatts, which poses the need for an upgrade.
According to Hinds, there is a perception that GPL prices are high because of wastage and incompetence. However, he said that these claims cannot be supported.

LOSSES ABOUT 31 PER CENT
He acknowledged that the power company does have problems. The major problem, he said, is dealing with losses which are now about 31 percent. He further highlighted that this in itself is an improvement because losses were much over 40 percent.
The PM noted that there will always be some technical losses because the system is highly overloaded and the transmission distribution networks have to be “doubled up.”
Nevertheless, he said that the government is continuing the transmission upgrade with seven new substations throughout the grid, which should be completed by the end of this year or early next year.
Additionally, he related that the government is also putting in a new 26 megawatt generating system at Vreed-En-Hoop this year to replace the system at Versailles.
He reiterated that the money allocated to GPL by the government is being utilized properly and that they are trying to stay ahead of the growing demand while also making some gains in improving the quality of service.
Moreover, Hinds highlighted that the government continues to look for ways to bring more affordable electricity to the Guyanese people.
In the short term, he advised, there are programmes with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) to more thoughtfully and carefully use electricity so that they can get by within the budget and not lose much quality of life in doing so.
In addition, he stated that they are also working to develop the Amaila Falls Hydro Power Project. He noted, however, that there have been threats to cut the allocation of some $16B, from the 2013 budget, which is the government’s contribution as equity in the total financing of the project.
Meanwhile, at the same press conference, Attorney General Anil Nandlall emphasised that a subsidy to GPL will benefit the ordinary Guyanese people, noting that it is their taxpayer dollars that the government is utilizing to subsidise their own electricity rates.
“On what logical, on what political basis can one not support this? I understand there are some concerns about the state of the sector at the management level, etc. and there will always be concern with perhaps every entity but that is not a basis. The fact that you withhold this financial injection cannot successfully address your concerns, in fact it makes those concerns even more difficult to address,” he asserted.

COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
Nandlall further related that the combined opposition’s position of withholding support in this form is counterproductive and harmful to the interest of every single Guyanese consumer. He added that electricity is a public utility that people are entitled to as a matter of right.
He further noted that the government is not oblivious to the problems faced by GPL, stating that it is in recognition of those problems that the administration has decided to invest in the Amaila Falls project.
He stressed that if the government does not get the full subsidy for GPL, the result is going to be either increased blackouts or increased electricity rates.
“So the people of this country whenever they get increased blackouts, whenever they get increase in electricity tariffs they must understand the reason for this is that they have a government that was prepared to put “x” billion dollars into the sector to alleviate this type of eventuality. Unfortunately the joint opposition in the parliament used their parliamentary powers in the National Assembly to deny the government an opportunity to alleviate that type of suffering to the Guyanese people,” he lamented.
Moreover, the AG stated that the situation is compounded by the fact that a higher form of subsidy is provided to Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) but not a single word has been uttered by the opposition in that regard.
Nevertheless, he emphasised that the state has a responsibility under the Constitution of Guyana to ensure that every single citizen of the country is treated equally, and that whatever facility is extended to one must be extended to another.
“So we have here the government and the state in effect being under some form of duress, placed in the precarious position of treating one section of our country in a favourable manner and another section of the country in a not so favourable fashion,” he said.