Patterson asked to clear air on street lights for NDCs

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson has come in for heavy criticism over statements he made that Guyana Power and Light (GPL) will be providing street lights in several Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) areas at a cost of $300 each.

However, when the Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Regional Democratic Council (RDC) met on Thursday, it was disclosed that the cost for the installation of street lights is higher, and that there were many other charges that are attached.
When the issue was discussed at the July meeting, Councillor Devin Sookraj told the RDC that through Government, street lights were being installed at a cost of $300 each. He explained that it was the Minister who had made a public statement that NDCs and Municipalities will benefit from the offer.
Sookraj further stated that the NDC could have one hundred street lights for $300,000, and according to him, that was part of the Government’s street lighting programme.
While some councillors disagreed that was the case, Regional Chairman David Armogan said the RDC supports the street lighting initiative but challenged NDC’s to verify if the statement made by the Minister were true.
“I am encouraging all the eighteen NDCs and the three Municipalities to go to GPL and take advantage of this,” Armogan said last month.
However, Chairperson of the Canefield Enterprise NDC, Sherriann Beharry, said that she would have visited GPL’s office after the Minister made the disclosure on a local Alliance for Change (AFC) televised programme and found that the supply of electricity will be great.
Yusif Hafeez, who heads the Kilcoy-Chesney NDC, expressed similar sentiments, while Ishwar Narinesammy, who heads the Johns-Port Mourant NDC provided a letter indicating that the Minister’s utterances were misleading.
In fact, Narinesammy said officials of GPL told him that they will even have to pay for the electricity the NDC used after the installation of the lights.
At the end of the meeting, Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) Regional Supervisor, who is also one of the Councillors who was critical of the Ministers utterances told Guyana Times that the party has information that several NDC Chairpersons visited GPL in relation to the Minister’s statements.
“When they went to GPL, they were told that nothing of that sort was directed to them from any Minister. They had gone in with written submissions to grab the opportunity of paying the $300 or $300,000 for a hundred street lights. They were written to by GPL and told that they have to pay a sum of $3,648 for every light to be installed in the NDC area”.
He explained that GPL has also detailed that a fee will be charged for the usages of the electricity used by the lights. The RDC also questioned the disappearance of the street lights that were removed when the coalition took office.