GPL's position on scrap metal thieves a double standard
Editorial
Stabroek News
November 3, 2006
It is easy to understand the frustration of the utility companies that find themselves at the mercy of thieves who have become wise to the lucrative market for scrap metal and who relentlessly pillage vital parts of the operating infrastructure of those utilities that are an essential part of our day to day existence.
Several weeks ago the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) Major General (retd) Joe Singh and members of his management team briefed Stabroek Business on the astronomical cost of replacing copper cables that have become one of the favourite targets of the scrap "pirates." The thieves have now become so determined that they are even prepared to pull down telephone poles in their hunt for copper. And setting aside the astronomical cost to the telephone company in replacement of expensive copper cable and manpower Major General Singh also explained that the time and resources that must be allocated to repairing the damage also affect the company's "roll out" operations to say nothing of the impact of disabled telephones on consumers.
The available evidence suggests that the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) and the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) also suffer heavily at the hands of scrap metal thieves and cumulatively the problem has now become so serious that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds has recently threatened the scrap metal industry with closure if it persists.
And while we must hope that such an eventuality does not arise since it will mean the end of an industry that provides jobs for several people, the Prime Minister's position is based, and probably soundly so, on the principle that if there are no buyers the demand for stolen scrap metal will disappear. It is now up to the legitimate scrap metal dealers to keep their noses clean by steering clear of stolen property.
One of the interesting developments to have arisen out of the recent meeting between the Prime Minister and scrap metal dealers was the revelation by the GPL's Chief Executive Officer Bharat Dindyal that members of staff of the company are part of the scrap metal scam. This, of course, is not the only scam against the company in which GPL employees have been involved and no one can blame Mr. Dindyal for declaring that the guilty parties would be dealt with appropriately subject to police investigations.
Except of course that we are only too well aware of the GPL's track record in taking action against both employees and electricity consumers who conspire to defraud the utility company. The recent light bill scam is a case in point. When the story first broke a few months ago we were promised a thorough investigation which, presumably, would have led to prosecution of the guilty parties. To date, as far as we are aware, a few employees have been sent off the job. However, the beneficiaries of the illegal racket designed to have their electricity bills adjusted downwards - and perhaps even some of the GPL employees involved in the scam - have, up until now, not had to answer for their wrongdoings. In fact, if Mr. Dindyal's utterances of several weeks ago still hold good the guilty parties will not have to face the courts at all since, according to him, they will simply have to pay up that which they defrauded the company of in the first place and that, presumably, will be the end of that.
The Stabroek Business has already pointed out in a previous editorial that by allowing those involved in the light bill scam to evade prosecution the GPL is sending the wrong signal. And now that Mr. Dindyal is saying - correctly in our view - that the scrap metal thieves will have to "face the music" - so to speak - the GPL would appear to be placing itself in a circumstance of double standard that can do its public image and the welfare of the company nothing but the greatest harm.