| (By Mondale Smith) A section of the gathering at the PUC GPL enquiry GPL CEO, Bharrat Dyndial, addresses the PUC public hearing at the Tower Hotel Stealing electricity is criminal but even as Guyana Power and Light is working out measures to stem the tide “there isn’t a street in Guyana void of at least one person (stealing) electricity.”On Tuesday Bharrat Dyndial, Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Power and Light told a group gathered for a Public Utilities Commission-called inquiry that contrary to popular belief his company continues to be faced with major issues of electricity theft.He made it clear that while some might believe that only certain consumers thieve electricity “it is not just poor people thieving, the rich ones doing it too even though they should be able to afford it.”This does not help Guyana’s current electricity supply situation as it deprives the company of much needed revenues to finance the investments to improve services.Contrary to some reports submitted to the PUC,Jerseys From China, the company’s CEO said, “Things are happening to the tune of tens of millions of US dollars in investments.” This he says “will give Guyana a more reliable electricity supply from as early as the forth quarter of this year.”The company recently published a list of names of individuals who were convicted in court of electricity theft and suffered severe penalties,NBA Jerseys China, including imprisonment.But there are still about 800 people who have been charged and are in court to answer electricity theft charges, but still to be convicted.Dyndial, in encouraging the public to adopt the attitude of policing and reporting people thieving electricity to the benefit of all consumers,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys Authentic, said,Discount NFL Jerseys, “All, including consumers, have a stake in dealing with this problem” as it contributes to the current high tariffs.”He said, too, that it is his company’s intention “if we cut down significantly on electricity stealing with the help of the community, we would be able to minimise the current cost of electricity to consumers.”He is advising public-spirited citizens to call the loss reductions department and officers will respond.Dyndial told the gathering that GPL loses about $5B every year through electricity theft. This money could be returned to consumers by way of reduced tariffs and still allow the company to invest in capital infrastructure.Contrary to the perception by the PUC, the large consumers are almost always up to date which helps the GPL to meet major financial obligations on a daily basis.“We have since presented the PUC with the proof to the contrary.”Meanwhile Dyndial said that 22 percent of the company’s losses are non-technical in nature and are largely as a result of electricity theft, faulty meters and deficiencies in the antiquated billing system.But the latter is being replaced at a cost of US$2.8M and is in the implementation phase, which should go into commercial operation by April 2010.Even as complaints and various allegations abound against GPL for alleged wrongful disconnections, Dindyal said that his company does not want to approve of disconnections for $3,Cheap NBA Jerseys Online,000 but in reality the billing system shows that about 60,000 consumers owe that amount individually and these are over periods of three months.Combined this amounts to $180m and Dyndial says GPL is making efforts to collect monies from businesses owing his company large sums but asked if GPL should allow the amount to be owed by small consumers and do nothing about it.He said development might seem to be moving at sloth’s pace at the power company but that is far from the truth. “Things are happening but monies are necessary to improve and this has to come from tariffs to ensure a better service which happen to be among the small balances.“People must recognise that we have a business to run and every ten days we have to write a cheque for between $350M and $500M without which the whole electricity system would shut down and everyone would be in darkness,Adidas NHL Jerseys From China,” Dindyal said.Speaking to the seriousness of the matter he said persons should consider that “unless the fuel company sees the monies deposited in the bank GPL does not get any fuel.”Disconnections:Though it is not covered by law Dyndial said disconnection crews are advised to not cut off people’s electricity supply if they promise to pay their bills on the same day. But even that is proving problematic, as most people don’t keep their word.“When they don’t disconnect we still have to pay them (the contractors),” Dindyal said.As the PUC Inquiry drew to a close it was recognised that GPL has a lot of information to share with its consumers at large and that the information needs to be disseminated.In this regard the PUC advised the company’s CEO to ensure that strenuous efforts should be made to ensure that the consumers are better informed.Dyndial agreed and committed to ensure that this is addressed as priority.Apparently, while many have complaints galore against the Guyana Power and Light Company, they are not serious enough to make them against the company at a public forum. |
