A letter from the Office of the Prime Minister to the Guyana Consumers Asso-ciation is normally an indication that important changes are being made under the Electricity Sector Reform Act 1999. The letter dated February 6, 2007, was to inform us that the Consulting Firm, Foley Hoag, was recruited to provide a technical and legal advisory service under the Electricity Sector Reform Act, No. 14 of 1999. The letter gave notice of a seminar to be held on Tuesday February 13, at Hotel Tower to sensitize stakeholders on the regulations.
The name Foley Hoag reminded us of The Movable Property Security Act, which was prepared by the same firm and carefully considered by stakeholders in March 2002 but still lies languishing on shelves in offices.
Among the regulations now proposed under the Electricity Sector Reform Act 1999 is the conversion of the Government Electrical Inspectorate into a company. Our two consumer bodies, The Guyana Consumers Association and the Consumers Advisory Bureau, have reservations about this change. When Mr Patrick Dial, our representative at the Hotel Tower seminar, sought to express an opinion on the change, he was informed that the seminar was to explain the proposed changes, not to discuss them. He was told to send his views to the Office of the Prime Minister. The letter is now being prepared.
The proposal that the Government Electrical Inspectorate should be converted into a public company is rejected by the two consumer bodies for the following reasons:
1. The content of the activity and most of the basic structure are exactly like that of any government department, inclusive of budgeting and financial affairs.
2. The conversion of merely one segment of the regulations into a company structure while leaving the rest of the regulations untouched is a logical absurdity and will lead to the malfunctioning of the whole structure.
3. The conversion of the inspectorate into a public company would mean that there is less of the financial controls and discipline which the financial regulations of government departments have, and could open the door for less responsible spending. When the company is out of money it will have to raise funds resulting in an increase in the cost of living for householders and tenants.
This proposed change has no justification either as a means of achieving greater efficiency or financial savings.
What should be done? The Electrical Inspectorate Division should be upgraded. The head of the inspectorate should have permanent secretary status and the inspectors should have assistant secretary status. Closer monitoring of their activities should be done.
The location of the inspectorate should be changed. A cubby-hole at the bottom of the Lighthouse encourages the ills that the division suffers. The division should be more central and open to scrutiny.
Consumers would certainly raise objections to any increase in rates due to the transformation of the inspectorate into a public company.
