The power company has reported more attacks on contracted agents carrying out disconnections, including a recent chopping incident.
The Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) yesterday said it resumed its disconnection campaign after a two-month break and over the past two weeks contracted agents have reported personal attacks as well as damage to their property by defaulting residents. The most recent incident occurred on Tuesday, when a veteran agent was chopped several times by a resident of Alexander Village after he disconnected a resident’s power supply. Additionally, the attacker broke all the windows of the vehicle transporting the disconnection crew.
“This is a serious development,” GPL CEO Bharrat Dindial told Stabroek News yesterday, while explaining that although there have been attacks in the past, they have been occurring more frequently in recent times. He added that in light of the seriousness of the attacks, GPL has been getting the police involved in every report.
Another incident occurred in North Ruimveldt, where a resident entered the contractor’s minibus to protest her disconnection. The driver drove the bus into the compound of the East La Penitence Police Station and reported the incident. However, the company reported that it was the driver who was subsequently taken into police custody for several hours. In a statement issued yesterday, GPL also noted that its employees were alarmed by an alleged call by an herbal doctor on a television show for violence against company personnel. GPL said the call was prompted by his not “getting satisfaction” in a year-old case relating to illegal connections that were discovered at his clinic last year.
GPL has made reports of the separate incidents to the relevant authorities. In the meantime, several investigations have been undertaken into a number of customer complaints of maltreatment by disconnection crews. It said that at the conclusion of the campaigns the appropriate sanctions would be applied.
GPL says disconnections are being carried out countrywide for all arrears up to December 2006. The due dates for the bills are long past and GPL is using the disconnections to recoup the millions in arrears that are outstanding. The company current spends US$3M every 10 days to pay for the fuel required to keep its 11 power stations running.
