— during outreach by Public Utilities Commission

By Naomi Marshall
THE Public Utilities Commission (PUC) hosted their first of many outreaches on Friday in the mining town of Linden

The outreach, which targeted the residents of Linden, was aimed at making persons aware of the PUC and the platform that exist which allows them to voice their complaints regarding the telecommunications, electricity, water and sewage sectors in Guyana.

“We have recognised that people can’t come to us simply because it might be expensive to get to us in Queenstown, which is considered to be a too-feared zone and also people might not know where we are, people might not know about PUC or they might not be able to reach us which is why,” said Dela Britton, Chairperson of the Public Utility’s Commission.
Britton noted that most of the complaints received were on Guyana Water Inc while the others were based on billing issues and internet quality in Linden.

The mission of the PUC is to ensure that regulated utilities offer efficient services to consumers at a reasonable cost.
In explaining the complaint process, Britton said a complaint taken will be processed. This means that the complaint, along with a letter from the PUC, will be sent to the utility which often has two weeks to respond. The time may be truncated, depending on the severity of the matter.

The consumer is then contacted with the response from the utility; if not favourable, the utility is asked to re-examine the complaint. If it is found that the utility is at fault, the PUC will commence advocating for the consumer. If the utility accepts fault, then they would compensate the consumer by credit on their next bill. No cash will be returned.
According to Britton, the PUC received some $11 million in December 2018 in credits on behalf of consumers

Britton noted that they are happy with the turnout; however, they intend to ‘ramp up’ public relations to have a better turnout at upcoming outreaches.
She highlighted that the PUC services are free and the utility can be reached via their website, PUC.org.gy.org or at their office located at 106, New Garden Street, Queenstown, Georgetown, or on telephone number, 2273204/2267042.

“We decided to embark on this series of outreach for the people of Guyana basically; we plan to go, hopefully, the length and breadth of this country doing exercises of this nature,” she added.

Georgetown, Mahaica, Essequibo and Kwakwani are some of the areas that will be targeted next. Linden will also be visited for a second time.

The PUC was established on October 1, 1990 under the Public Utilities Commission ACT of 1990. This act was passed to regulate the telecommunications sector in Guyana.
The act was later repealed to include the regulating of the electricity sector in 1999 and further amended to regulate the water and sewage sector in 2003.