With the appointment of a new Board of Directors for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) is hoping that there would be some relief from frequent power outages.
Head of the GCCI, Nicholas Boyer, told the Sunday Stabroek that while his organisation has no data on the actual effect of power outages on businesses, he is certain it “doesn’t have a positive impact.”
“When you have consistent power interruptions that have accompanied power surges, you know there will be problems. Some businesses don’t have generators and therefore can’t operate during power outages and others will record some damage to equipment and with that damage, unplanned expenditure on repair,” he said.
According to Boyer, while there have been no complaints in the last month, “consistent” complaints over the years have shown that power outages are a major concern.
“I hope that [the] new Board is able to manage the state of affairs so as to improve service and reduce blackouts and power surges,” he said.
Rawle Lucas has been appointed Board Chairman with Reggie Bhagwandin, Kirk Hollingsworth, Morsha Johnson-Francis, Gillian Pollard, Elena Trim, the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency, Private Sector Commission representative Komal Ramnauth, and a representative from the parliamentary opposition, making up the new Board.
GPL has been without a Board for over a year. The recent interruptions in electricity supply, both “planned for maintenance” and unexpected, makes it easy to see why Guyana is ranked by the World Bank at 0 for its ability to provide a reliable supply of electricity.
According to the Doing Business 2019 report, Guyana is ranked with Sub-Saharan Africa in its ability to provide reliable electrical power.
Perhaps most worrying is how normalised the interruptions have become.
