A hearing by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) into the service offered by the power company, heard calls for GPL to improve its public relations and the utility said it has found it hard to find personnel here for important positions.
During the forum which was held at the Hotel Tower on Main Street, and was attended by Guyana Power and Light (GPL) CEO Bharrat Dindial and PRO Denise Adams, PUC chairman Justice (ret’d) Prem Persaud said that the forum was initiated since consumers felt that they ought to know the reasons behind constant blackouts affecting areas around the country as well as other issues affecting the power company.
According to the PUC, consumers are concerned with respect to the unscheduled and constant power outages which it noted, is frustrating to consumers. It was noted that power outages are not confined to any particular area but rather affect consumers countrywide. The commission gave as an example the unscheduled blackouts affecting consumers on the West Demerara. The commission stated that GPL, which is a fully integrated monopoly and service provider, is obligated to provide a regular, efficient, coordinated and economical supply of electricity.
The commission noted that the Chairman of the Board of GPL, Winston Brassington in an interview with sections of the print media, stated that GPL‘s operations will return to normal at the end of the year, but then later qualified it by saying that this is contingent on skilled staff which the company does not have, together with the retirement of a number of generating sets. On this note the PUC said that the company should state whether the required skills will be available before year end to have power generation stabilized and whether the retired sets will be replaced within this time frame.
As regards the former, Dindial noted that the company has expended a significant amount of money on training noting that for any business to run efficiently, it has to invest. He said the company plans to spend over $180M over the next three years on training but stated that GPL is having difficulties in finding the required personnel to fill important positions within the company after looking at candidates in Guyana and even the Caribbean. He said the company has also been looking at prospective candidates in North America and Europe.
Dindial said that the problems facing the utility company are not new. He said that the company faces serious financial shortages noting that electricity theft as well as corruption by some staff at GPL had added to its problems. He said the new Kingston power plant which is expected to be completed in October this year will provide needed power to the current 75 MW which serves the electricity grid in Demerara. He said for the evening peak period, 31 generating sets are available and if one malfunctions, there will be load shedding.
As regards the loan from the EXIM Bank of China which has been approved, Dindial said that monies from this loan will be expended on improving the capacity and establishment of sub stations across the country as well as the construction of transmission lines between Demerara and Berbice. He said two sub stations will be constructed on the East Coast of Demerara and at Versailles on the West Bank of Demerara. The CEO said that the company recognizes that there is significant growth in population on the West Demerara, noting that approximately two weeks ago when that area experienced constant power outages over a five-day period, it was discovered that power in that area was exceeding the feeder capacity in the area.
Questions were raised at Tuesday’s forum regarding the methods which the company uses to collect payments from consumers with some persons stating that the use of the Post office as a payment agent is most times unreliable. Dindial said that after the power company dispatches bills to consumers, there is a one-week period within which the post office makes remittances to the company as compared with Bill Express which takes about one day. He said in the past the company dispatched letters to consumers as a form of notice that the bill due date was approaching and the amount of money required to be paid on the bill. He said this has since been discontinued since many consumers would disregard the letter when it became known that they were only required to pay an amount on their respective bills. He noted that to date there are some 60,000 persons who owe the company $3,000 on their respective bills which amounts to close to $200M.
Dindial also stated that the company is currently running a pilot programme in which it seeks to employ the services of community-based service representatives. He said the company has already spoken to regional officials in Regions 2, 3, 5 and 6 in this regard.
Dindial also disclosed at Tuesday’s forum that the Amaila Falls hydro project is very much on stream noting that the developers of the project are looking at employing the services of local firms to carry out aspects of the scope of works for the project including cleaning of the reservoirs as well as construction of access roads. He said the Linden area will be the first to benefit from the project when it comes on stream. This project has been in the pipeline for many years.
Justice Persaud noted that a lot of information which was brought to the fore by Dindial on Tuesday should have been published in a press release to appease consumers affected by the power company’s service. One member of the audience noted that the power company should strengthen the effectiveness of its public relations unit as well as keep the press informed of its activities. At this point one media house mentioned to the commission that it is sometimes difficult to access information from the public relations department of the company. The PUC chair, in this regard, noted that the press and the public relations department of the company should have a good relationship with the latter providing detailed information, as presented by Dindial on Tuesday.
Over the past several months there have been constant power outages experienced by sections of the country and concerns had been raised by consumers, including business persons, with calls for the GPL to provide a better service. The company has since cited its financial problems as well as its aged generating sets as contributing factors to the constant power outages experienced by consumers and stated that the situation will be remedied when the new Kingston power plant gets on stream.