Chintamani floats idea of separate entities for electricity generation, distribution
Private sector concern is mounting over the debilitating effect of the current countrywide power supply crisis on the business community and the heads of two of the country’s leading umbrella business organizations have declared that they are holding the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) to the publicly stated commitment that the protracted power woes will be alleviated by its stated November 5 date.
Chairman of the Private Sector Commis-sion (PSC) Captain Gerry Gouveia and President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Chandradat Chintamani both told Stabroek Business in separate interviews earlier this week that the spate of blackouts has had a major disruptive effect on commercial and social life in the country and that GPL could not reasonably expect that any extension beyond the stated date for the realization of a significant measure of relief from the economically debilitating power disruptions would be acceptable.
“While we may not be able to place a monetary figure on the extent of the economic loss resulting from the electricity supply crisis we can hazard a guess that the losses in terms of down time and lost business has been quite significant,” Chintamani told Stabroek Business. “At the same time we are equally concerned about the social impact of the spate of power outages gripping the country. Apart from the disruption to daytime manufacturing and trading there is also the disruption to the night time entertainment industry and to normal domestic activity. We cannot ignore the severity of the situation.”
“We are particularly concerned over the effects which the power crisis is having on the competitiveness of the private sector. That is not something that we can afford at this time. While we are aware of the current intervention by GPL and the physical effort to correct the problems the economic loss resulting from the prolonged absence of power is not something that we simply cannot ignore. The situation is very serious,” Gouveia added.
Gouveia told Stabroek Business that even in the absence of the current power outages consumers were already paying a high price for electricity. “While several businesses in the manufacturing sector are unaffected by the crisis since they have long opted for their own independent power supply we have to be concerned about the dramatic negative effect that the entire situation is having on the small business sector,” Gouveia said.
Chintamani estimates that in the absence of a stable and reliable supply of electricity in the commercial sector the use of alternative power supply adds significantly to operating costs. “While it is difficult to make an across-the-board estimation of the additional costs associated with the use of generators those numbers may well be in the region of an additional 20 per cent of operating costs. I doubt very much that small businesses can afford to run generators for prolonged periods,” Chintamani added.
And according to Chintamani whatever the extent of the rehabilitation and restorative work currently being undertaken by GPL it was “unacceptable” to shut down the capital, including the country’s commercial sector entirely. That in itself is a huge disappointment.” Chintamani said.
Asked to comment on the recently announced public relations initiative by the power company which it says is aimed at the “rebirth” of the company Chintamani said that he believed that GPL’s first target ought to be to keep its promise to bring to an end what he described as “a wholly unacceptable situation” by the promised date.
Meanwhile Gouveia told Stabroek Business that the current frequent spate of power outages had also given rise to issues relating to the safety of power supply. “Apart from the reliability of power we also need to be concerned about the stability and safety of power supply given its implications for fires,” he said. Gouveia told Stabroek Business, however, that he did not feel a sense of hopelessness over the situation. “We have seen evidence that GPL is aware of the gravity of the situation and is working towards remedying it.”
The PSC Chairman told Stabroek Business that he had recently visited the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s new sugar factory at Skeldon and was particularly encouraged by evidence of its capacity to supply power to the national grid.
Both private sector bodies have been in communication with GPL over the power crisis and Chintamani told Stabroek Business that there had been an exchange of correspondence between himself and GPL Chief Executive Officer Bharrat Dindyal on the matter. Private sector officials were due to meet with Dindyal last week to discuss the electricity crisis. However, that meeting was postponed at the request of the power company. Chintamani told Stabroek Business that he anticipated that the meeting would have been held yesterday and that he expected that the engagement would be a ‘lively” one. “The private sector simply cannot continue to sustain such a high percentage of loss. When I think about the number of small businesses, particularly, that have been affected by the crisis the situation is one that simply must be remedied quickly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the GCCI President told Stabroek Business that he believed that there was a role for the private sector in the management of the electricity sector. “My own view is that there is something to be said for an electricity sector that comprises two entities, one that is responsible for electricity generation and another responsible for distribution. It may well be that the two sets of responsibilities are too much for a single company.” According to Chintamani it may be worth considering an arrangement where the state-run GPL retains responsibility for generation while a local or foreign private sector entity assumes responsibility for distribution.