Highhanded and heartless
Editorial
Kaieteur News
July 10, 2004
=
In all likelihood, the vast majority of electricity consumers in Guyana would agree with a statement by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company is “highhanded and heartless”.
The PUC made this damning statement about the country’s sole electricity provider during a public session at the Library of the Supreme Court where the two entities were supposed to address consumers’ complaints. Unfortunately, the hearing was cut short when counsel for GPL bellyached about short notice.
No one was surprised. The ’short notice’ argument by GPL’s attorney may have been perfectly lawful, but apparently it did not do the utility company’s public image much good. Many observers deemed the move an unnecessary delaying tactic. They claim it is one of many slippery moves GPL has made during its troubled relationship with the PUC and electricity consumers. When GPL or its agents act a way that appears to thwart consumers’ legitimate right to fair, timely and adequate recourse for their grievances, they have only themselves to blame when the company is labelled “highhanded and heartless”. Guyana’s electricity consumers have good reasons to ask why GPL often appears uncomfortable with customers’ complaints. Who can blame them for getting the impression that GPL is reluctant to face consumers’ problems squarely and take remedial action, especially when the PUC is involved?
Before the session was cut short, PUC Secretary, Jennifer Ganpat said the commission has been receiving numerous complaints from consumers, many of them similar in nature suggesting a pattern of substandard service by the power company. She noted that the PUC had forwarded the complaints to GPL and the company had conceded that the complaints were valid. Yet, as everyone knows, the problems still persist and there is little indication that the power company is doing anything at all to resolve them in a timely, effective way.
This week’s aborted public session was a PUC initiative to publicise the problems of electricity consumers in the hope that any unfavourable publicity would spur GPL to take consumers’ complaints more seriously. It was not to be. The way GPL responded to this initiative led many critics to suggest that the electricity company is not interested in giving customers a hearing at all, much less a fair hearing.
Since GPL has a monopoly, this attitude can reasonably be interpreted as utter contempt for electricity consumers. It is hard to see how this problem can be fixed unless there is a concerted effort by the Government, PUC and people of Guyana to exert relentless pressure to force GPL to treat the problems of electricity consumers with the gravity they deserve. Dealing with consumers’ problems is not a privilege GPL extends to consumers at its whim and fancy. GPL has an obligation, as the sole provider of a vital public utility, to facilitate consumers’ complaints and try to resolve them. What’s more, the power company has a responsibility to do so courteously, expeditiously and professionally.
Most electricity consumers in Guyana have suffered from GPL’s shortcomings. Many of the complaints recorded by the PUC are downright criminal, including charges that GPL staff aggressively solicit of bribes and put in illegal electrical connections for those who pay them. All Guyanese are well aware of these shady activities by some GPL operatives. However, unless the Government and people of Guyana fully and actively support the PUC in its drive to make the power supplier fully accountable, there will be no relief for consumers.
If the concerned parties do not put a stop to GPL’s ‘high-handed’ actions now, chronic problems: such as mysterious charges; GPL staff subjecting consumers to various forms of duress; unreasonable ’estimated’ charges; and long waits for meters will not go away. Indeed, they are likely to become worse.
The PUC is correct to try to force GPL to take consumers’ complaints more seriously. It is up to the Government and people of Guyana to throw their full support behind the commission’s attempts to hold GPL to the highest standards of service and accountability.