Dear Editor,
My husband, who is employed at GPL, informed me that the eighteen (18) used power generators that were purchased in Trinidad arrived before Christmas. They were supposed to be up and running to bolster the grid for the holiday season. All were not put on stream and we are into February. They were not operational for the holiday season, and the country was not severely affected by blackouts. So why order the power generators?
The government paid US$27M ($1.5 M each) for these 18 used power generators for GPL from a favoured company in Trinidad. They were sitting for a long time unused and needed repairs. They were to be rehabilitated and brought to Guyana to produce 27 megawats (MW), or 1.5 MW each, of electricity. Instead, they arrived dysfunctional. Five were repaired in Guyana by GPL engineers and made operational in mid-January, producing only one MW each as opposed to the expected 1.5 MW as contracted.
In sum, Guyana paid US$27 million to produce 27 MW power to be added to the grid but only got five MW. Is that value for money? Who made the order and why? Why used power generators? Why was the Trinidadian company selected? Why not new generators from USA that were selling at the same price as the old, used generators from Trinidad that would have been more efficient and giving the required 1.5 MW each?
Sincerely,
Sharmila Ally
