City Hall power company end row
Stabroek News
August 6, 2002
After meeting for just over an hour yesterday morning, top officials of the Guyana Power and Light Company and City Hall were able to resolve their differences and reach an amicable agreement.
In a move which shocked the Mayor and City Council on Saturday, GPL disconnected the power supply to City Hall, the main drainage pump at Liliendaal and the Promenade Gardens over pay.
City Mayor, Hamilton Green later that evening threatened to remove the power company’s poles that were planted without permission on the parapets and Council’s reserves.
But after yesterday’s meeting, the parties issued a joint statement, which only said “they were able to reach an amicable agreement and the situation has been returned to normalcy.”
Further, both sides undertook to maintain contact with each other in the future. No details were provided.
Those who attended the meet were Martin O’Bryan, the officer responsible for GPL’s commercial sector and Sam Zimbe, Senior Revenue and Billing Manager of the power company.
City Hall’s team, headed by Green, also included Deputy Mayor Robert Williams, Town Clerk Beulah Williams and City Treasurer Andrew Meredith.
After City Hall’s lights were cut Saturday, Green described GPL’s action as arbitrary and said the city was put at risk. As a counter move, he said the Town Clerk wrote to GPL, calling for the removal of all the lamp posts planted on the parapets and reserves, for which no permission was given.
“Since they want their pound of flesh, we will also extract our pound of flesh,” the `Chief Citizen’ told Stabroek News. Green had expressed surprise at GPL’s move noting that the two sides had been in discussions on the debt owed to GPL and other matters.