The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc yesterday said it was not to blame for the death of 22-year-old Ronald Arthur since Dynamic Engineering, the firm for which he was working at the time of his death, was not contracted to do any work on its behalf.
Calls made to Dynamic Engineering for a response to GPL’s statement were unsuccessful. An employee informed Stabroek News that only the Managing Director, who was not at work yesterday, was authorised to pronounce on the matter.
Arthur, of 69 Pompey Street, Section Three Christianburg, Linden, died on Sunday afternoon after an unsecured utility pole broke and fell as he was conducting work on it. The man’s workmates said he was crushed by the pole at Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara and was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he died while receiving treatment.
Since he was belted to a utility pole and was conducting work on wires, assumptions were made that Arthur was either working for GPL or one of its contractors. However, GPL in a statement yesterday, expressed “emphatically that contrary to reports being peddled in the media, it is in no way associated with the event surrounding the death of the late Ronald Arthur of Dynamic Engineering…”
Furthermore, the company said, the pole on which the man was working was not a GPL pole and Dynamic Engineering, at the time of the accident, was not authorised to conduct any work on GPL’s behalf.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, a representative of GPL’s Public Relations Office indicated that a check of its list of contractors revealed that though Dynamic Engineering was used by GPL before, it currently did not have a contract with the company and should not have been carrying out any works on its behalf.
“GPL wishes to further expound that any works undertaken without its consent to any part of the national electricity grid is deemed illegal and actions will be taken against the perpetrators,” the release said.
However, the company extended condolences to the man’s family, and added that it takes all measures necessary to ensure the safety of its employees.
