GPL still looking for strategic private investor
…reliable electricity the goal - Luncheon
Guyana Chronicle
July 17, 2003
Cabinet at its meeting last Tuesday, reviewed the report of the shareholders of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last Monday.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, at his weekly news conference said, the report dealt with the main short to medium goals as the company recommitted itself to private investment, including the liquidation of indebtedness, rehabilitation of the transmission and distribution system and power purchasing agreements.
For the consumers, the expectation is a reliable service and that an expanded service would not lead to significant increases, Dr. Luncheon added.
Responding to a query on the return of the GPL to private management, Dr. Luncheon explained that the AGM reiterated a commitment to identifying a strategic private investor, but at this stage of exclusive state management, the expectation is that the stage would be set to attract private investments through the rectification of problems currently facing the company, laying the basis for a return to profitability because private investors are interested in profits.
“The expectations would be that this initial phase under exclusive state management would be contributing to the creation of the most ideal of company circumstances to allow for real interest being expressed by private investors,” Dr. Luncheon explained.
The American and Caribbean Power Company (AC Power) at the end of March last, took a decision to give up its shares in the troubled GPL, paving the way for the government to become the sole owner of the entity.
Under the agreed terms between the two sides, the Government acquired the equity interest in GPL for US$1 and an agreement to release its claim on the final payment of US$3.45M, and assumed control of the company from April 30 this year, after which the sub-contracted managers of the Electricity Supply Board of Ireland (ESBI) left.