President Irfaan Ali yesterday appointed Dr Nanda Kishore Gopaul as the fourth commissioner of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
According to a statement from the Office of the President, Ali pointed out that unless properly regulated, public utilities can employ their market dominance to avoid fair pricing and the provision of adequate, reliable and quality services.
He expressed his satisfaction that today Guyana operates in an environment where the monopoly in the telecommunications sector has been dismantled.
According to the statement, the President stressed that the PUC is also required to ensure that every public utility maintains its property and equipment in such condition that enables service that is adequate, efficient, affordable and safe.
He then pointed to concerns at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) which were recently brought to his attention.
“I had cause only two days ago to make a comment that GPL did not maintain any of its facilities for almost four consecutive years. The lines were not maintained, their system was not maintained. Today we have to correct that”, he stated.
Ali reiterated his government’s commitment to support the work of the PUC and expand and improve the quality of public services provided to citizens.
“The work of the PUC is expected to intensify as Guyana enters this new phase of its development, one which has already witnessed the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector and plans are ahead for boosting power generation and water supply”, he added.
Dr Gopaul joins Chairperson Dela Britton and three other Commissioners: Dr Leyland Lucas, Verlyn Klass and Rajendra Bisessar at the PUC.
Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips and Permanent Secretary Derrick Cummings were also at the swearing-in ceremony.
