Dear Editor,
IT is 4:45am on Sunday December 18, 2016 and I am typing this letter on my cellphone, in complete darkness, due to structural violence imposed on citizens by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. It is the third time in less than 24 hours that my area – West La Penitence – has been subjected to unfair treatment, in the form of blackouts by this company which shows total disregard for the hundreds of thousands of Guyanese who support its existence to provide the poorest of services, perhaps in the entire western hemisphere.
Of course, these three incidents of power outage (all of which exceeded an hour) were not limited to my area, as citizens living on the outskirts of Georgetown and in other regions, reported similar trends. For Saturday alone, I was able to document close to 30 social media posts made by disgruntled citizens expressing their dissatisfaction with this company. I intend to use the materials to start a campaign against what I consider structural violence against the Guyanese people. I am cognizant of the fact that this move can result in public (international) embarrassment for the company – something I can only hope will effect change.
What I find most disturbing is the fact that Guyanese are paying for this utility service which is subject to termination should there be a lapse in payment, while at the same time, they are at the mercy of this company with regard to if or when they would be able to benefit from the service they are paying for.
For the benefit of the unconscionable individuals who are at the helm of this company, I will state an obvious fact: the average Guyanese household cannot afford a generator as an alternative when greeted with sporadic power outages. These households comprise children who rely on electricity to study and their parents for basic needs such as ironing their clothes or using a fan during a hot day. Is this unreasonable to ask for?
It is interesting to note that only last year, the company’s CEO boasted of not being reliant on a government subsidy since it was able to cover its operational costs. Expansion of capital infrastructure was said to have been financed by the Petrocaribe fund. So, again, what really is the problem? Electricity shares the top spots with water as one of the most basic utility services in the 21st century. The evolution of technology has afforded us the opportunity of benefitting from these services without them having to be manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879, the world has been a brighter place. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Guyana, as we appear to have been stuck in that era when electricity was now being tested and developed. And while this might sound like a foolish rant, it is indeed the case. Almost all of the justifications emerging from GPL as to the reason for routine power outages for the last few years, have been “upgrades” to its systems. One begs two questions then: what exactly is being upgraded for all these years and for how long do we have to endure this structural violence imposed on us? P.S. It is now 7:00am and power has not been restored.
Regards
Ravin Singh
A disturbed citizen