Bombarded with complaints of poor service offered by his company, CEO of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Damien Blackburn at a meeting on Friday promised residents of Bartica the delivery of services will be significantly improved within the next six months.
The meeting, which was initiated at the request of the Regional Democratic Council, witnessed persons lamenting the quality of services provided to them.
Regional Chairman Kenneth Williams yesterday told Sunday Stabroek that residents used the opportunity to highlight issues that they have been plagued with for years.
“We are at an age where everything is dependent on connectivity and even though we have the service GTT here we have been suffering for the past year. So yesterday’s [Friday] meeting was welcomed and much needed,” Williams said.
He noted that the residents’ complaints ranged from internet connectivity issues, nightly network outages, poor customer service, and delays in resolving issues.
According to Williams, for the past year, the community has been experiencing a network shutdown from 8pm nightly and despite numerous complaints it is still to be resolved.
He added that residents complained of not being able to participate in online classes or meetings and many times will have to travel to Georgetown just to be a part of important meetings due to the unreliability of the internet service.
“One man yesterday told the CEO that the poor internet connections created hardships on his family and forced them to be separated for days. His wife and kids had to be in Georgetown just so the kids can attend school. They had to rent a house even to benefit from reliable internet connection,” he related.
Further, he explained that Blackburn after hearing the complaints committed to improving the service to customers.
Williams reported that the CEO was apologetic about the “past sins” of the firm and pledged to ensure the issues raised will not continue to happen “under his watch.”
At that stage, he announced that they will be modernising the internet connectivity to Bartica and that should be achieved within six months. Blackburn told the residents that at this point the infrastructure is being developed for the roll out of the upgraded internet service.
Moreover, he promised the establishment of an office in the region to minimise the response time to customer queries and issues.
Williams added that Blackburn promised immediate intervention to resolve their nightly outages and they are now awaiting these promises to be fulfilled.
“The RDC recognizes the crucial importance of internet connectivity to our economy in the Region. A better service will improve every strata of our society in education, business and commerce and socialization. The RDC will continue to ‘press’ all the providers to improve services being because we are of critical importance…” the Regional Chairman added.
At the end of the meeting, Williams noted that the residents were pleased to have had to opportunity to relate their woes and he remains hopeful that Blackburn will deliver on his promises.
