Dear Editor,
Reading the reports about GPL and the fight against electricity loss/thefts during the past week in KN and SN, I have come to the conclusion that the officials are hell bent on trying to make the public believe that electricity theft is the only problem hindering the development of the power company, whilst they fail to admit mismanagement is one of the main contributing factors to the company’s decline.
Editor, it would please me a lot to see both KN and SN publish a list of all the organisations/companies that Mr Brassington is involved with and then ask the public if they have any confidence that GPL is getting the service from him that it needs, apart from sitting at press conferences, doing selective interviews and giving tours to officials.
It is no secret that electricity losses are having a heavy impact on GPL and as they admit, instead of seeing a decline, they are seeing an increase and that clearly indicates something is definitely wrong. Their slothful attitude in providing electricity to homes and areas causes residents to find other options and as a result, they get accustomed to cheap/free electricity. Apart from that they refuse to provide electricity to certain homes/areas, whilst similar places get. Their quick response in disconnecting people for a small amount of money is another ingredient that causes them to steal electricity via an illegal connection that is being used mostly at nights.
Because of mismanagement, after investing heavily in numerous types of meters (the latest iTRON), they are going invest in another project ‒ Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and install meters on the power poles. If they were paying heed to various suggestions, they could have installed meters on the power poles years ago instead of investing heavily in different types of meter and not seeing changes.
I’ve written about the street lights before, and again I would reiterate that it would be cheaper to purchase street lamps without sensors (that turn on the lights when the place gets dark) and the difference used to purchase wire and a switch for the lights. There are enough people living with disabilities who cannot get a job and who could be employed to go every morning and afternoon to switch the lights off and on. It makes no sense you airing a video commercial advising people to switch it off when not in use, and you are guilty of doing the same. Many lights that are installed on the poles malfunction, and in most cases the residents would come together and pay someone to fix a light. In some cases the sensor goes bad and the person would bypass it, thus the lights would be on all the time. Also, during the day when it is raining, the place would get dark sometimes and the lights would come on when clearly, there is no need for them. If GPL is serious, they should work that system, and at the same time, train whoever they employ to switch the lights on/off as well as spot illegal connections and report them immediately.
Finally Editor, whenever a power post is changed, the workers sometimes sell the post (wallaba) to people. GPL should instruct the workers to bring in all the posts. In case they are not aware, GuySuCo purchases a lot of wood for their boilers, and GPL could supply or sell them those that they change. I see nothing wrong with that.
Yours faithfully,
Sahadeo Bates
