Dear Editor,
As the saying goes, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. Apparently, GPL still believes it can fool Berbicians with its empty promises.
Let’s look at the facts regarding the blackouts that have been plaguing the Upper Corentyne for as long as I can remember. Here are just a few of the recent headlines regarding blackouts in Berbice:
1) May 25, 2012 – Guyana Times: ‘Berbice blackout woes to end on Wednesday’
2) June 2, 2012 – Guyananews.co: ‘GPL apologizes to Berbicians for spate of blackouts’
3) July 31, 2012 – Guyana Times: ‘Berbice blackouts to abate monthend -GPL’
4) August 9, 2012 – Kaieteur News: ‘Berbice blackouts due to maintenance on transmission lines, faulty transformer – GPL’
5) October 7, 2012 – Guyananews.co: ‘Blackouts continue to bombard Berbicians’
6) November 3, 2012 – Kaieteur News: ‘Berbicians to face four more weeks of power outages’
Editor, I hope you see the trend here. Berbicians have been suffering too much under GPL and are being constantly disrespected by empty promises made and no action taken. Only yesterday morning on NCN radio, it was announced that GPL had stated we will have an “adequate” supply of electricity for Christ-mas. Now what in the world does “adequate” mean to GPL? I hope Messrs Bharat Dindiyal and Ayube Bacchus can come to our area and live here without backup generators so they can understand how much we are suffering. We are sick and tired of the long periods of blackouts which are hurting everyone – businesses, families, students, etc.
Editor, what do we have to do in order for GPL to provide us with a reliable supply of electricity? Do we have to start protesting before GPL takes action?
And why are Mr Armogan and his fellow PPP/C leaders not doing anything? They were elected to represent the needs of all of Berbice, but apparently they have abandoned the Upper Corentyne area. The only thing Mr Armogan has done is to state that GPL has improved its supply of electricity to Berbice, when that is clearly not true. I don’t know which world he lives in, but it’s definitely not the Upper Corentyne where we have blackouts for over 10 hours in one day at times.
Editor, why haven’t AFC and APNU vocally advocated on behalf of the suffering people in our community? Where are the APNU and AFC representatives who promised to help our communities? Why are Messrs Ramjattan, Nagamootoo, and others silent? Where is Dr Rishee Thakur of APNU, who was so vocal during election time, but is now nowhere to be found?
Someone has to help us. Give us a reliable supply of electricity!
Yours faithfully,
Vikash Ramgopal