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More discussions before M&CC exchange cheques with GPL – Williams

Nov 28, 2009 News

The exchange of cheques between the Georgetown Municipality and the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) will not be possible until city officials are able to agree on a suitable plan of payment that will be beneficial.
This disclosure was made by Deputy Mayor Robert Williams yesterday when he commented on the status of negotiations with GPL. Williams said that the power company has been informed of the municipality’s position thus no fixed date has been identified for the exchange of cheques.
He said that following the municipal statutory meeting last week Monday, a decision was taken to put a temporary hold on an agreement that was reached when a municipal team, led by Acting Town Clerk, Yonette Pluck-Cort, met with GPL officials two Saturdays ago.
The two sides had agreed that the exchange of cheques would be on the basis of the power company being relieved of more than $500M in interest. Pluck-Cort had announced that the amount to be waived is somewhere in the vicinity of $517M leaving the power company with a balance of about $295M.
GPL had initially stated its unwillingness to pay interest on the taxes it owes. However, at the meeting, Pluck-Cort said that the GPL team headed by Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindyal, had changed that position and ceded to the fact that it owed the municipality in excess of $700M.
The Town Clerk had revealed further that the power company’s debt includes the new power plant at Kingston on which taxes are due. The municipal team on the other hand accepted and even committed to pay a total of $624M, inclusive of interest, to the power company.
At the meeting it was accepted by both parties to have the cheques be exchanged within 24 hours.
Councillors upon hearing of the decision hastened to highlight numerous concerns, even claiming that the municipal representation at the meeting may have been lacking.
Given all of the concerns, the Deputy Mayor yesterday disclosed that the municipality will continue discussions among its own before heading back to the table with GPL. Efforts to solicit a comment from GPL’s Dindyal yesterday proved futile.
At the recent statutory meeting it was proposed that the power company be informed that the municipality has not yet concluded consideration of the recommendations arrived at.
In the meantime too, Williams, acting in the capacity of Mayor, had suggested that efforts be made by Pluck-Cort to complete a report detailing what occurred at the meeting as attempts are made to seek legal advice into the matter.
GPL had engaged action against the municipality two weeks ago, disconnecting the electricity connection from several buildings including City Hall, the Abattoir, the municipal health clinics and other facilities due to its failure to pay off the multi-million dollar debt.
However, it has been confirmed that electricity has been restored to most of the disconnected facilities with the exception of City Hall, the municipal health centre in Albouystown and the East Ruimveldt Day Care Centre.
As part of an agreement between the two entities, inked some years ago, the municipality was tasked with paying GPL a total of $7M per month. The municipality had fulfilled its obligation in accordance with the agreement until October last year, a development which led to the accumulation of the massive debt.

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