Guyana Power and Light’s (GPL) inadequate berthing facilities present a problem for companies shipping oil, and this has caused the fuel needed for power generation to run dangerously low, a source said.
As a result of the fuel foul-up Joseph O’Lall, Head of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) has been sent on administrative leave and Chairman of GPL Ronald Alli removed.
An informed source confirmed that a shipment of 16,300 barrels of diesel from the Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA was on its way to Guyana and should be here tomorrow. A further shipment of 5,000 barrels of diesel procured by Prittipaul Singh Investments is also due this week.
O’Lall and Chairman of GPL Ronald Alli were written to by Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon on Friday.
Berthing facilities at GPL’s complexes at Kingston and Garden of Eden have deteriorated to the stage where companies were reluctant to send their ships with fuel out of fears that the safety of their vessels and cargoes could be compromised.
The source explained that by law, GEA was the only entity that could import fuel. Given that situation the GEA entered into contracts with fuel-exporting nations, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, with the stock of fuel imported being equally split between the two countries.
GEA required that by the 10th of each month at the latest, each importing company should send their nominations containing information on the quantity and type of fuel; when the fuel was to be loaded and on which ship.
The GEA would then amalgamate the information and send it to the companies from where the fuel was to be purchased. All the companies had been informed that they would have had to buy at least 50 per cent of their fuel supplies under the PetroCaribe agreement which Guyana signed earlier this year, and all the local companies acceded to the request except for Guyoil. The source said that after this company accepted its first shipment in May, it never took another, claiming that it was uneconomical for it to do so.
The source told this newspaper that Guyoil indicated to the GEA that they wished to delink themselves from GPL because the heavy fuel oil that the utility required wasn’t available in Venezuela, but only from Trinidad.
The source said that GPL agreed to delink from Guyoil which GEA thought was a good idea since it now opened the door for the establishment of a local shipping company that could potentially grow in time.
GPL then approached BK International to be the shipping line since GEA had utilised this company in the past when a shipment had been needed for Cricket World Cup.
The source said that when the GEA sent the specifications of BK’s ship to Petrotrin of Trinidad, that company said that the vessel had three defects which had to be remedied before they could accept it for the shipping of fuel.
BK International advised that they would be able to address two of the defects in a short period of time but the third one would take longer.
An approach was then made to Shell West through its local subsidiary SOL for arrangements to be made for the importation of fuel for GPL. But Shell West said that it wouldn’t be sending its ship after hearing about the deplorable condition of the berthing facilities. And other shipping companies said the same thing. This newspaper understands that the Trawler Association had sent some 40,000 litres of diesel meant for trawlers to GPL at Garden of Eden.
A GINA release late yesterday reported President Jagdeo as saying that he had asked for O’Lall and Alli to be removed. The agency quoted him as saying in answer to questions about the removal: “I asked that they be replaced at this point in time. I feel that there are problems that could have been avoided, problems with the importation of fuel, which has imposed a significant cost on GPL and problems regarding the true picture of the liabilities of GPL.” He said that Alli would retain his position as Chairman of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Board.
When quizzed by reporters late last week as to what was causing the power outages Luncheon had denied that fuel was an issue.
