The power outage which affected City Hall on Sunday was not because of a disconnection by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) but a fault in the municipality’s generating system, Public Relations Officer Royston King said yesterday.
On Sunday, Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green had said that the power company had disconnected City Hall’s electricity without prior notice. GPL Board Chairman Winston Brassington had told this newspaper on Sunday evening that he was unaware that the electricity to City Hall had been disconnected.
King said yesterday that the mayor had been “misinformed” and apologized for any embarrassment caused to GPL and to employees of the M&CC. He said the M&CC hopes that this will not disrupt the harmonious relationships that the two entities share.
According to King, the municipality is indebted to the power company. He was, however, unable to say how much was owed to GPL. He said that the two entities were supposed to be working with an agreement but suggested that City Hall may not be honouring its part.
In June, Green had said that the municipality’s average electricity costs amounted to over $13 million per month, the majority of which was street lighting which cost $9.2 million monthly. At the time, he said that GPL as it related to the money owed.
Previously, the two entities were at loggerheads over payments of outstanding money owed to each other. GPL said City Hall was not up to date with its electricity payments while City Hall said that the power company had outstanding taxes dating back several years. GPL objected to paying taxes owed by its predecessor, the Guyana Electricity Corporation on the grounds that it (GPL) was a new company.
