The new members of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) and the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) were yesterday urged to pay more attention to people -issues relevant to the two organisations.The members of both boards received their instruments of appointment yesterday morning in the presence of Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson and Minister within that Ministry, Annette Ferguson at the ministry’s boardroom in Wight’s Lane, Kingston.
GPL’s board is chaired by businessman Robert Badal and includes Denise Simmons, Leslie Ramalho , Attorney-at- Law Abiola Wong-Inniss , Morsha Johnson-Francis, Tara Singh and Dr Mahender Sharma . The board has left open seats for a representative of the Guyana Public Service Commission, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Parliamentary Opposition.
Badal was absent from yesterday’s event since he is currently on an overseas engagement.
GEA‘s board is chaired by entrepreneur Lance Hinds. Other members are Nadia Sagar , Mark Bender , Dr Mahendea Sharma who serves as an ex-officio member , Dr Vincent Adams and one space has been left open to a member of the Parliamentary Opposition .
Dr Adams currently serves in the United States of America in the administration’s energy sector. Minister Patterson said Adams will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the GEA when he returns to Guyana in the coming weeks. He said Adams serves as an undersecretary in the energy department there. While addressing the new board members, Minister Ferguson urged members of the new GEA board to give adequate attention to issues affecting the employees under that agency. She said that soon after the administration’s ascension to office last year, “many disenfranchised persons visited the ministry and stated that they were treated unfairly”. She expressed her trust in the new board to address employee-related issues with considerations placed on good judgment.
Meanwhile, Minister Patterson urged the members the GPL board to work along with the consumer’s interest at heart. He urged them to ensure “consumers are seen as consumers “and not as thieves of electricity.