Dear Editor,
Empathy should be extended to both chairman and general manager of the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) utility, Messrs Winston Brassington and Bharrat Dindyal respectively and to the very top brass of this state monopoly. They are obligated to assume full responsibility for providing adequate and reliable electricity to the nation.
What obtains now is a totally unsatisfactory chaotic service and which has long historic explanation, but the more recent advisories relative to plans in satisfying energy demands amount to feeble projections and anticipation. The desired credibility is fulfilled in the breach rather than welcome acceptance.
For instance, sometime before September 2009 and with the delivery of a brand new Wartsila plant, management then assured all consumers that by the middle of September 2009, this new plant will be up and ready; electricity shortfalls will be enhanced. September has come and gone. What in fact is being experienced is not more supply of electricity, but more intensity of blackouts. We are now faced with another management promise that our electricity woes will be over by middle November 2009. Should we believe this? This is the burning question.
The empathy with management is the knowledge that their (management) projection must be based on their supporting professional and technical staff who are all charged with the responsibility of completing the installation of all equipment in the projected, timely manner. From the outside, it is crystal clear that it is in the area of the competence of these professional, technical personnel where the full blame lies.
There should be an appropriate inquiry into this obvious lack of competence in not concluding the simple routine task of installing the new plant.
Yours faithfully,
David DeGroot
