Dear Editor,
GPL blamed mechanical failure for the blackouts in Demerara and Berbice, supported by Prime Minister Sam Hinds who is always easy to convince of anything. We have to ask some questions. Are there machines in Berbice that were down long before this crisis? Why didn’t they repair them? Is there a machine at Onverwagt that was out for several months and only now they have ordered parts to bring it back into operation? Did they overhaul the big machine at Canefield in a way which its makers or any self-respecting technical man would not regard as an overhaul? I am talking about replacing major parts on selected days and the machine going back into operation after every replacement. If this went on over several months before finishing then no wonder the machine never performed like an overhauled engine and it is now limping. Did they postpone major maintenance on machines because Skeldon was to be the answer to everything? Is this why some of them are down now? Bad planning! Skeldon has its own problems now and they are playing hardball with GPL.
Why didn’t they build a 69kv line between Skeldon and GPL? Working without one was always going to be a problem. Money should have been found for this somehow from somewhere.
Are orders for spares given importance or are they left sometimes to gather dust on people’s desks? Is this why we have some of the present problems?
What about the setting up of another big machine at Canefield? After many months and endless talking it is still to arrive from Suriname and the preparation work at Canefield has barely started. Did the CEO retain his old position as operations boss for two years after he became CEO? If so, that position could be filled by a capable Caricom national or overseas based Guyanese. It only needs the will to fill it.
The CEO spoke about the transmission line from Skeldon, the machine coming from Suriname and creating a national grid at his press conference. All of them are old issues. He did not talk about how the mess developed in Berbice. And Demerara has its problems too. President Bharrat Jagdeo has to take a good hard look at the GPL executive if he is tired of “frivolous excuses.”
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
