THE Private Sector Commission (PSC) is calling on the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) to fulfil its mandate and provide the country with reliable electricity.

In a statement on Friday, the PSC said within recent months, GPL has subjected the entire country to a series of unannounced and frequently prolonged power outages.
According to the commission, there has been no credible explanation from the company’s management or the board for these failures.

“To add insult to injury, the GPL recently from 2nd September to 5th November, 2017, announced a series of scheduled maintenance power cuts which, in Georgetown alone, amount to a total of 149 hours spread between 17 sections of the city. In addition, power cuts averaging about five hours each were scheduled for the Essequibo Coast, Berbice, East and West Bank Demerara, West Coast Demerara, Soesdyke and East Canjie,” PSC said.

It said too that while notices may be published in the local newspapers, informing the public about scheduled maintenance power cuts, many citizens do not see them. The commission further opined that many residents do not have private generators to provide alternative power, and as such are greatly affected.

“Judging from this performance or, to be more accurate, absence of performance, GPL simply have[sic] neither the management nor the capacity to deliver a reliable power supply to the country and the government has consistently failed to address this reality.

Guyana’s manufacturing and commercial sectors cannot function in these circumstances and, in this day and age at the exorbitant price that we are expected to pay for electricity Guyana’s population should not be subjected to this punishment. As the Christmas season approaches, this has now become an even more pressing source of concern for the populace,” PSC stated.

Efforts to contact GPL Board Chairman, Robert Badal, proved futile; however, GPL Public Relations Officer Shevon Sears told the Guyana Chronicle that the concerns of PSC will be brought to the attention of the company’s administration and board, and a statement will soon be issued.

Back in August Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson had expressed disappointment over the constant power outages and had committed to spend the parliamentary recess to zero in on GPL. Minister Patterson had said that he will be visiting the power stations to ascertain first-hand what interventions can be made to restore the situation to normalcy.

“I met with the staff of Guyana Power Light Incorporated (GPL); they’ve explained the issues they have, such as manpower and those equipment that have been ordered and not coming in [as] quickly as they should. I’m meeting with the board and [will] ensure that they are equipped as fully as possible to address these issues,” Minister Patterson explained.

The minister further explained that GPL is currently, financially stable; therefore, monies should be invested towards enhanced generation, so that issues such as tree-trimming and burnt generators will not affect distribution.