Editorial

The Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) Bharrat Dindyal has publicly admitted that the company is besieged by a plethora of problems most of which are long-standing, some of which are chronic and many of which will not be surmounted in the near future.

He spoke about the issue of rising fuel prices and the fact that GPL’s fuel bill often exceeds its total earnings. There are others deficiencies too – like operational inefficiencies, corrupt practices, an inefficient billing system and high tariffs. Then, of course, there is the fact that we are the biggest power thieves in the Caribbean and that for the moment at least there is really little that GPL appears to be able to do to stem the flow of power theft.

Millions of dollars in bilateral and multilateral aid have been pumped into the sector over twenty five years. Still, the utility company has failed the country miserably and just a few weeks ago an editorial in this newspaper wondered aloud about the economic cost of electricity supply deficiencies over that period.

Two further points should be made about the electricity sector. First, it has, over the years, become the bane of this country’s social and economic existence. Secondly, the very mention of GPL triggers hostility among consumers of electricity.

Why then the government’s objection to a parliamentary probe into GPL’s services? There is no reason to assume that the call for a probe by AFC leader Raphael Trotman was anything other than altruistic and at any rate since the problems of electricity generation long pre-dates the accession of the present political administration to office, there was really no question of all of its ills being laid at the door of the government.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds has given several reasons for government’s refusal to support the probe motion including the submission that the company was now being managed better than ever before and that, according to the Prime Minister, “much was wrong with the preamble and thrust” of the motion.

Whether there is any real merit in the reasons advanced by the Prime Minister for government’s refusal to support the motion is clearly open to question. First, there really is no nexus between a parliamentary enquiry and what the Prime Minister describes as “a better run” GPL since “better run” in this instance clearly cannot be equated with “well-run.” On the issue of what may or may not have been wrong with the preamble to the motion, it has to be said that if the substance of the motion was deemed to have had any credit then the perceived ‘difficulties’ in the preamble could have been addressed through bipartisan consultation.

Perhaps the really regrettable thing about the government’s refusal to endorse the probe call is located in what is once again a missed opportunity to at least try to arrive at a bipartisan consensus on an issue of overwhelming national significance – the way forward for the country’s electricity sector. It is a less than encouraging sign for the kind of bipartisan commitment to achieving goals that are widely accepted to be desirable for nation-building.