Execution for electricity

May 07, 2009 Editorial

On the first day of this month, the caption of our report on a Press Conference held by officials of Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) was stark: “23,000 illegal connections found, 800 prosecuted but only two jailed”.
And these were the figures of only one year’s activity to stem the tide of electricity theft, which has played a major part in keeping the power company on the ropes for quite some time.
Prime Minister Sam Hinds was reported to have said, “I don’t want to send people to jail, I don’t want to take people to court, but we have to end this culture of stealing electricity…It just has to come to an end…We will have to make the effort that is required.”

We disagree with the PM’s expression of contrition at the prospect of prosecuting electricity thieves. We hope that the execution (that is the only word for it) of Clifford Peters, the Chief Security Officer of GPL while he was on duty during a disconnection exercise with the company’s Loss Reduction Unit, will convince him and other officials of the need for tougher action against electricity thieves.
All Guyanese moan and groan incessantly about the blackouts that bedevil our land but refuse to condemn the rampant theft that robs GPL of massive sums of revenue.

A year ago, in this space, we advised in relation to the increasing number of blackouts: GPL can do a better job to highlight the fact that an inordinate amount of electricity is still stolen from the grid and it’s a case of Peter having to pay an awful amount of money for Paul.
While we may all sympathise with those who may be having a hard time to pay their electricity bill, we cannot condone theft.

Not to mention the truth that the vast majority of Guyanese are in the same boat.
It is our understanding that the power company is aware of vast swathes of our coastal population who are stealing electricity but are afraid to send their disconnection crews into these areas for fear of “trouble”.
Some previous contentious attempts reached the press.
As in other areas of criminality, however, such behaviour cannot be allowed to pass. The State should assist the company in the regularisation of its customer base. The greater good is at stake.
In the year since, GPL has engaged in a commendable and sustained endeavour to raise the level of its services.

It unveiled a five-year plan that involved replacing many of the outdated meters – some with pre-paid ones—, rehabilitation of transmission lines, network expansion, a new power plant at Kingston, integrating the co-generation plant affiliated with the new Skeldon sugar factory and just as importantly, addressing electricity theft.

The latter focus resulted in the number of transgressors quoted above being caught. But the lax follow-up has made a mockery of GPL’s efforts: as soon as the GPL crew leaves the area the illegal hook-ups are reinstated – with no repercussions.
In the press conference last week, the Chairman of GPL reported that even in the face of GPL’s increased vigilance, the rate of electricity theft had actually increased.
We repeat our call from a year ago that the authorities must become more pro-active in supporting GPL’s efforts to go after the thieves of electricity.
And we return to the PM’s apologetic response to the crime which arises out of a general society-wide tacit condoning of electricity theft that must go.

There ought to be a special court convened to convict the thousands of thieves that have been identified and mandatory fines should be specified once it has been proven that the crime was committed.
These fines ought to be increased exponentially for repeat offenders.
Arming GPL’s workers to counter violence against them is not the answer: a special armed unit from the Police Force should be designated to accompany members of the Loss Reduction Unit.
While Mr Peters has been the first fatality, numerous GPL personnel have been threatened with guns and bodily harm while executing their duty. We cannot afford a repeat.