Illegal connections continue to alarm GPL
By Jaime Hall
Guyana Chronicle
January 15, 2004
GUYANA Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) continues to be alarmed about the number of illegal connections to its electricity supply system and the fact that people seem unmindful that those connections pose a serious danger to human life, property and loss of revenue for the company.
Company officials have also admitted that although the problem is severe, they do encounter many difficulties trying to effectively address it.
GPL has from time to time removed illegal connections wherever they have been found, but at the end of these exercises people go hooking them up again.
North Sophia, Georgetown, is one of the areas where this problem is widespread. Yesterday, a team of officials from the power company including Public Relations Officer Marjorie Chester took the media on a tour of the area to highlight the problem.
There, wires could be seen connected to a main utility pole alongside a canal separating Prashad Nagar from North Sophia, which GPL officials said was unauthorized. This strand of wire runs across the canal and passes beneath the surface a dam, one of the main thoroughfares to that area, and there the danger lies.
Miguel Kellman is a GPL Systems Design Engineer who was among other company officials that examined the unauthorized connections at Sophia.
The wires at some sections, he pointed out, are exposed and could be accidentally uprooted and cause death by electrocution, if for example, the canal needs to be cleared of weeds by machinery having to use the dam, or if persons go there fishing and comes into contact with them.
This problem he admitted is rooted in the unavailability of electricity supply to the residents of North Sophia.
They like other people would like to have the benefit of power supply connected to their homes the legal way.
Kellman said the illegal connections could result in other nearby areas being affected with low voltage and such cases were being reported.
Based on his analysis, from the number of unauthorized cables that are attached from the electricity pole which are about ten, each one of them could feed about 10 households with power supply, he explained.
He said however, there are many applications from people at North Sophia who are requesting that GPL extend its services there, but there are limits to what they could do now.
Kellman explained that a cadastral survey of the area would have to be carried out identifying the house lots there and look at other infrastructure developments. This is usually done by the Ministry of Housing.
Any area slated for development has to be done through the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) of the Ministry of Housing before approval is given.
Residents at North Sophia said that because their area has not been regularized by the Housing Ministry GPL would not be authorized to extend its network there.
The area is still regarded as a squatter settlement which people have being occupying for over the past 15 years.
The Chronicle contacted a Ministry of Housing official for a comment on where the regularization programme is heading, particularly for the North Sophia residents.
The official replied saying that, that area is under the process of regularization but there are some delays due to a court matter. Details of this matter are in the hands of the Minister of Housing Mr. Shaik Baksh who is dealing with that. Baksh was unavailable for a comment yesterday.