Former Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Chief Executive Officer Bharat Dindyal is back at the helm of the State agency, after outgoing CEO Albert Gordon declined to have his contract renewed.
GPL CEO Bharat Dindyal
This was confirmed in an interview with Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar. Additionally, GPL had sent out a statement informing that Dindyal had been rehired and had taken on his duties as of Monday.
According to Indar, GPL advertised for the position after Gordon, a Jamaican who has been the CEO since 2018, declined to renew his contract. Indar explained that Dindyal was among those who applied and as such, was reappointed and took up his duties on Monday.
“There was a process, as you know. Outgoing CEO Albert Gordon did not wish to continue. He did not wish for his contract to be renewed. And so, GPL went out and advertised. And they went through the process of interviewing and evaluation. And they have rehired Mr Dindyal as the CEO of GPL. That took effect from this morning,” Indar explained.
Outgoing GPL CEO Albert Gordon
Dindyal has over 26 years’ experience in engineering services and operation of
electric utilities and formerly worked with GPL until 2015, when he was fired by the then A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government. He was brought on as a management consultant back in October 2020 following the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) return to office.
His reappointment comes at a time when the PPP has embarked on an aggressive drive to build capacity within GPL. This includes bringing in a number of generating sets that are expected to boost GPL’s capacity by 9.6 megawatts.
The six generators, which are each 1.6-megawatt (MW) caterpillar units, were procured for some $475 million in an effort for GPL to shore up its capacity ahead of the Christmas season. It is understood that three of them will be installed at GPL’s Sophia substation.
The other three will be installed at the company’s Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice location. Additionally, it is understood that four other units with a total capacity of 6.4 MW will be on standby in case any of the six units fail.
Work is also ongoing at GPL’s East Bank Demerara (EBD), Garden of Eden site, for a dual firepower plant that will utilise both heavy fuel oil and gas. The initiative is one of GPL’s largest generation projects to date. Five Wartsila generators earmarked for the project arrived in Guyana on November 5, after leaving Finland on October 13.
