For several residents of Grant Sand Road, Soesdyke, the holidays have been dark thanks to constant blackouts from the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL).
About 16 residents of the area have reported to Stabroek News that they had been suffering through regular power outages for months. However, the problem allegedly worsened as the Christmas season came on.
One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told this newspaper that the situation has become unbearable. Even at the time of the interview she was in the midst of a blackout, she said.
According to the woman, the issue hit a peak on Christmas Eve when the hilltop part of the area had an all-day blackout. She added that all of the affected residents were registered GPL customers.
She went on to say that many of the residents went into a GPL office to report the issue on Christmas morning and while some officials from the utility company came and fixed the electricity, by nightfall the power was gone once more.
Though GPL reportedly returned on other occasions to deal with the situation soon after its team had departed, the area would be in darkness again.
The ongoing issue has financially affected the residents and darkened their holidays. One resident explained that she is a mother of young children who attend school and she is worried about the reopening of school on Tuesday.
Further, she said, her family’s Christmas Day celebrations had been ruined. “We didn’t have a wonderful Christmas because we didn’t have any current. Things like the grapes, cheese, and the meat and so spoil up on us,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about my children when I need to iron their clothes or when they come home from school with homework.”
Another resident said, “They leff us in a position now that every time you wan’ cook you got to go buy greens or chicken for just that meal ’cause there is no freezer or fridge to keep anything.”
According to the residents, GPL had indicated that persons in the area had been stealing electricity, causing them to disconnect electricity. However, the residents expressed frustration at this explanation and maintained that honest customers should not have to suffer for the wrongdoings of a few.
When contacted yesterday for a comment, Chief Executive Officer of GPL Bharat Dindyal said he was unaware of the situation but advised residents of the area to have the police accompany the crew to remove any illegal connections. The residents also claimed that the GPL workers would receive bribes to turn a blind eye to any illegalities. “If they know that people stealing current, why they ain’t coming and do their investigations? Why we who paying got to be paying the penalty for those who stealing?” one resident implored.
When it was pointed out to Dindyal that there had been claims of bribes being paid to GPL workers, he said he would have to investigate the matter further before providing a comment.
The residents said a GPL team went into the area on Friday to provide some “legal” homes with electricity. However, by yesterday morning these homes were in darkness as well.
Though the matter would be regularly reported, residents said that there has been no satisfactory response. “Whenever we call the people from GPL they does be so rude,” one man said. He continued, “They would say things like, ‘If y’all thiefin’ the current how y’all gon’ get light?’ and promise to come but wouldn’t when they say they would.”
“They are disrespectful, to be honest. They are very, very disrespectful,” another woman added.
Meanwhile, the Grant Sand Road residents are waiting to see whether GPL will deliver on its promise of another visit. However, they are holding out very little hope.
One woman said, “We’re really suffering here; it’s heartrending on us.” She went on, “I’m sure GPL can do something to stop this but they don’t care about us. Simply, GPL does not care; the only thing they care about is that when they send the bill you got to pay it.”
