Following a pronouncement by the new Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Chief Executive Officer, Albert Gordon, regarding the monies needed for the entity, the private sector is urging in-depth studies to arrive at a definitive figure.
In an interview with this publication on Friday, Private Sector Commission (PSC) President Eddie Boyer questioned the CEO’s figures which were arrived at in such
GPL CEO, Albert Gordon
a short space of time. He queried whether any prior studies were done to inform the GPL of the cost to fix these issues.
“What study has been done? The CEO has been there for just about two months. For someone to come up with that assessment in the two months without any proper study that we can analyse, there’s no way we can make a decision on that,” Boyer declared.
“I would like to hear from the board, if the board is consulted. For GPL to fix the problem, we know there is a multitude of problems, from the line distribution (to) the connectivity. We know there are other areas to be fixed first”, he conceded
Gordon had made this pronouncement regarding the sum needed to fix the GPL on Wednesday at a cocktail reception at Pegasus Hotel, where he was formally introduced to members of the local media.
According to Gordon, there were several deficiencies that he discovered while on his familiarisation tour to almost all the GPL facilities across the country.
“That is the biggest challenge now — keeping the lights on; and as I have mentioned in a different forum, there are different contributors to that, not the least
PSC chairman, Eddie Boyer
of which is the existing infrastructure and configuration of the system. The GPL system is evolving from a bunch of smaller systems that are being integrated; and, right now, there are serious deficiencies in the system that we need to address,” he said.
Amaila Falls Hydro Project
However, this plan has drawn criticism from persons, including PPP Member of Parliament Irfaan Ali. He believes that, instead of pumping more finances into fixing the plethora of issues at GPL, Government should seek to invest in building a cleaner and more efficient energy system.
That system, he also noted, has to be one that would have a trickle down and long lasting effect to the benefit of consumers. In making this point, he had referenced the decision made by Government to abandon the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.
“The Amaila Falls Hydro Project was a long-term solution to our energy requirement in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. By today, we would have been enjoying power from Amaila Falls, we would have been enjoying it at much less or far less the cost that consumers are paying today,” he opined.
Ali said the coalition Government abandoned the Amaila Falls project without any plans as to how it would sustain the energy climate for the country.
The former minister had said the main objective right now should be to look at a long-term solution to the country’s energy problem, to ensure that energy is also generated in a sustainable, cost-effective manner, and one that would bring benefit to the consumer.
“Pumping money into GPL will not allow it, the Government should therefore rethink its strategy and rethink its position on the Amaila Falls Hydro Project. Any investment should be able to equip us of our capability for energy to be generated in a sustainable way,” he opined. One of the greatest challenges facing this sector is the growing demand on the system. The current capacity has not grown to meet that demand.
“They’ve also seen a retrograde (step) in terms of reliability of power, and if you look at, for example, what is going on with blackouts and so on, it is far worse today than when we had the contract with Wärtsillä,” he added. (Jarryl Bryan)
