Dear Editor,
I am forced to once again publicly voice my utter dissatisfaction with the Customer Service of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT). Over a year ago I made an application by email to the Head Office at Brickdam for a landline telephone service. I received a response from Ms. Habina Bourne, a GTT Customer Service Representative (CSR) who acknowledged my application for the service and apologized for the delay since I was waiting over a year. Following that, I was contacted by Ms. Stacy Leslie who informed me that a technician will visit and inspect the area before I could get the telephone service to my home. The technician visited and informed me that my property is located in an unengineered area which means GTT will be unable to provide me with landline telephone service. I could not understand why it is so because my property is situated at Foulis which is approximately 14 miles from Georgetown and lie between Paradise and Enmore on the East Coast of Demerara and residents living in the proximity of my area are with telephone service except for those living in the same street with me.
It seems as through that GTT has a discriminatory policy when it comes to providing its service to this great nation of ours because how only one street in Foulis can be deemed as an un-engineered area when other sections/streets of Foulis and nearby communities like Annandale, Buxton, Paradise, Enmore and Haslington are not. A year ago I also applied to GPL for electricity and the street was without lantern post. GPL came and put down the lantern post in the street and within one month they ran the cable and my property got electricity. So why could this not be the same with GTT? All it required is a telephone line to be connected from Foulis Public Road to my house which is about five minutes walking distance from the Public Road in the street.
I have seen over the past years many areas developed into housing schemes such as La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank of Demerara (WBD), Diamond Housing Scheme is (EBD) and Pradoville. Two housing schemes at Sparendaam on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) were without basic amenities, such as water, electricity and telephone service and residences of those communities were provided with those services, why some section and residents of Foulis should be treated differently? I don’t think it is fair. In frustration and hoping for some result, I wrote Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, MP, the Buxton/Foulis Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Chairperson, Roger Evelyn and Mr. Damian Blackburn, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), more than seven days ago. I have received no response from any. I hope that by the publication of this letter, someone will take note and bring an end to the discriminatory policy that seemly exist at GTT so that I could get the same telephone service that I am in need of like others.
Sincerely,
Rayvonne P. Bourne
