LAST week there was a media report that the vehicle of the disconnection crew of the water utility, Guyana Water Inc (GWI), was destroyed and the GWI workers had to flee for their lives.  This incident occurred in the Buxton/Friendship area and was the fifth time since January, 2018 that GWI disconnection crews had been attacked on the East Coast of Demerara.  The GWI management has revealed that almost all such incidents occur on the East Coast of Demerara.

This incident brings to the fore the public’s attitude towards the public utilities.  There are three public utilities which touch the lives of most citizens: the water utility, Guyana Water Inc (GWI);  the electricity utility, the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL);  and the telephone utility, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Co (GTT).

The water and electricity utilities fall under the aegis of the Government of Guyana and as such, are ultimately owned by the people of Guyana.  The telephone utility is owned and controlled by a foreign company.  The water and electricity utilities are highly subsidised by the state, so that their services would be more affordable to the people of Guyana.
If customers are disconnected for non-payment by the telephone company, there is no protest and no resentful destruction of GTT’s property or attacks on their workers.  Customers quietly pay their re-connection fee and put themselves in order.  On the other hand, there are always protests in the communities where GWI and GPL have to carry out disconnections for non-payment and staff are sometimes subjected to abuse and physical assault.  Fortunately, such unsocial, and indeed criminal behaviour is not widespread throughout the country.

After this most recent attack on the GWI disconnection crew, Dr Richard Van- West Charles, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the utility emphatically involved himself in this matter and looked at the safety of his staff.  GWI has been lucky in its CEOs of recent years: Dr Van-West Charles, like his predecessor, was a senior minister of government and as senior ministers, they brought a great deal of experience and capability to the post.  Accordingly, Dr Van-West Charles has been functioning at a level where GWI is trying to consistently remedy deficiencies, become more efficient and provide customers with a better and reasonably priced service.

He accordingly treated the latest attack as deserving his full attention.  He emphatically sent the message to would-be attackers that GWI and its workers would not be intimidated by such attacks and that they would continue disconnections for non-payment whenever necessary.

Though Dr Van-West Charles is aware that people in the communities where the attacks were perpetrated are decent and law-abiding citizens, he will still mount outreach programmes in places such as Buxton to inform residents how GWI would improve its standards and show them how co-operation with the utility would be in their mutual interest.  Such would help to consolidate good relations between community and utility and prevent attacks on disconnection crews in future.

GWI would secure police presence in areas where there is risk of interference with disconnection crews.  Though requiring police presence is a last resort, GWI is prepared to invoke it.  We think such police presence in certain communities is necessary and we hope such a programme is immediately effectuated.  It would help to underline that the police are determined to maintain law and order.

The wider community in Guyana must realise that it is in the interest of each and every individual to ensure that law and order is maintained and should take appropriate action to prevent anyone from indulging in lawless action against the public utilities and their workforce.  Dr Van-West Charles appealed to citizens in similar vein: “….It is my belief that it is time for citizens to raise their voices and their actions to ensure that law is respected and maintained, to support for the betterment of all citizens throughout the length and breadth of Guyana”.

The water and electricity utilities are owned by the people of Guyana and all citizens have an obligation to protect them.  These utilities are subsidised and as such, customers must know they are buying their services at less than cost.  They must also know that the workers in these utilities are Guyanese men and women who are doing their best to make fairly outdated equipment work with efficiency and that no one in these utilities has any desire to overcharge or exploit the public.  They must realise that paying their bills on time is as much in their interest as in that of the utilities.