Seemingly mindful of the fact that significant state investments in the electricity sector have still not brought the country’s erratic power supply into the realm of normalcy the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has pointedly expressed its satisfaction with the decision by government to remove Value Added Taxes (VAT) from ‘stand by’ generators that continue to be imported into the country in considerable numbers.
Stand by generators have become a critical tool in the daily routines of the state, the private sector and homes even as frequent reports about initiatives to make the problem ‘go away’ – not least the touted ‘power ships’ solution fail to bring an end to what, sometimes, are protracted blackouts that ‘generate’ frustration and a generous measure of outrage at the levels of both the private sector and domestic homes.
What may have, up until now, saved government from a much more severe public ‘tongue-lashing’ are the positive distractions that derive from the country’s oil bonanza and the various ways that can be deployed to make the ‘pain’ of the power woes more bearable.
While the government has been pursuing costly lease arrangements to support so-called ‘power’ ships to ‘shore up’ the substantive electricity generating regime offered by the Guyana Power and Light Company, this measure has failed to bring an end to blackouts which continue to negatively impact on both the business community and households across huge swathes of the country.
Indications of acute official jitters over the magnitude of the power problem was clearly reflected towards last year-end when President Irfaan Ali – seemingly in a burst of frustration vented his spleen on “the management of the Guyana Power and Light Company over the failure to ‘fix’ the problem”, to which tantrum he ‘threw in’ a “heads will roll’ threat if the end of the first quarter of this year finds us in a condition where no noticeable improvements have become apparent.
Contextually, while the removal of VAT on stand-by generators is to be welcomed that does not come even close to remedying the problem. The removal of VAT on generators speaks to removing some of the pressure from the business community and those private homes where generators are affordable. It does not in any way, shape or form assuage the frustrations of ordinary Guyanese who remain helpless hostages to the country’s inability to offer an altogether reliable power supply system.