House approves legislation to stiffen penalties for electricity theft

Aug 10, 2010 News

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By Gary Eleazar

The Electricity Sector Reform (Amendment) Bill 2010 was last evening approved in the National Assembly, paving the way for increased fines and penalties as it relates to individuals or businesses found guilty of electricity theft.
The Bill was successfully piloted by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who told the House that the Legislation was crafted using lessons learnt over the past decade.
He said that the administration has tried over the years to get persons to change attitudes as it relates to the theft of electricity, and while it is not the desire of the government to start throwing people in jail, the problem has reached a point where it must be seriously addressed.
The Prime Minister said that they will use a “big stick’ approach and hope that people fall in line.
He said that it is recognised that there are different categories of consumers of electricity and as such the fines reflect cognizance of this.
Stiff penalties are also in place now for the ‘corrupt’ persons in the electricity sector that conduct transactions with persons to facilitate the theft of electricity as they will also be subjected to stiffer penalties.
Provisions are also in the amendments which incorporate guilt by association, in that every person over the age of 18 years living at a premises would be deemed guilty of the offence unless it is found to be linked to a specific individual.
The Prime Minister assured the House that the legislation is not just in place for the small man, adding that it is not just the poor that steal electricity, and that in many cases the persons involved in the theft of the utility are persons that can afford to pay for it.
The new legislation also caters for the provision of electricity to the Guyana Power and Light by independent suppliers, but for no more that 10 megawatts.
He said that this would facilitate instances where large businesses such as Banks DIH or DDL would have installed generation capacity and an additional amount which is not used and could be sold to the national grid.
Chief Whip of the People’s National Congress Reform Lance Carberry in his presentation to the House said that while it recognises the fact that electricity theft is a problem, the Bill did not address the critical issues affecting the power company.
Carberry told the House that, given the nature of the Amendments proposed in the Bill, “we are dealing primarily with matters incidental thereto or connected therewith…However, important as these tidying up amendments are, they do not address the issues which are of critical interest to the Guyanese people at this time.
He also questioned why the supplying of electricity from independent sources was limited to 10MW when the Prime Minister is aware of the arrangements in the bauxite communities and the expectations of electricity supplies to GPL from GuySuCo which is expected to see supplies in excess of what the Bill limits.
He said that in light of the fact that it is recognised that power generation by the company is significantly high as a result of the fuel that has to be imported, it would be economical to accept electricity supplied independently.
In light of ever present heckling that is traditional in any parliamentary debate, Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir told the House that while the administration has had 18 years to fix the power supply problem they had to prioritise in light of what was inherited.
Nadir said problems such as the national debt as well as social services had to be addressed.
Alliance For Change Vice Chairperson Sheila Holder in her presentation to the House said the Government should recognise that there are some that risk their lives to steal electricity out of desperation.
She said that more resources should be diverted to empower persons to be in a position where there is no need to resort to these dangerous practices. Holder emphasized also that the Prime Minister has an obligation to ensure that there is an education campaign to ensure that the populace is made aware of the measures put in place, given that persons were not notified prior to the passage of the legislation about increased penalties.
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Hundreds to attend police youth camp

More than 250 children along with a few police scout troupes will be part of this year’s annual police summer youth camp, which will held from August 14 to 18 at the Kuru Kuru Co-operative College. The event, which will be held under the theme, ‘Moulding the minds of our youths for a better tomorrow’, will be coordinated by Senior Superintendent Carol Lewis-Primo with guidance from Assistant Commissioner Paulette Morrison.
The youths will be drawn from several areas across Guyana, including participants of the Police Outreach Programme, which targets the children of Rosemary Lane (Tiger Bay).
Police scout troupes from the city, Berbice and Linden will make up the camp.
They will participate in skills training in areas such as craft, embroidery and joinery among other vocations.
Commissioner of Police Henry Greene will deliver closing remarks at the conclusion of the four-day camp.
The police hope that the event which began in 1991 at Camp Soweyo, under then Police Commissioner Laurie Lewis, will serve to instill values that will ensure that young people are given alternatives to criminal and other illegal activities.
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Bandits nabbed after Mon Repos robbery

As if they were irked by recent criticisms of their poor response to criminal activities, police on the East Coast of Demerara on Sunday night acted swiftly, resulting in the capture of two bandits who had robbed a man at knife-point on the Mon Repos Seawall.
The two bandits were apprehended in the neighbouring village of Beterverwagting as they were making good their escape.
According to the police, around 21:30 hours on Sunday, Ravi Biswah, 19, was at the Mon Repos seawall when he was held up by the two men, one of whom was armed with a knife.
The men took away a silver chain, a silver band and a bicycle from the victim and fled.
However they did not cater for the quick response of the police.
The two suspects have been identified by the victim and are in custody.
All of the stolen articles were recovered as well as the knife suspected to have been used during the robbery.
Charges are expected to be made shortly.
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Doctor’s reports still outstanding

Almost two weeks ago, 17 year-old Hennrico Jerrick died at the Georgetown Public Hospital after being hospitalized for less than two weeks, and his relatives are yet to receive the results from the hospital.
Yesterday, the teen’s mother, Leslyn Monize, told this publication that ever since her son’s death she has not heard from hospital officials. The woman said that her son was buried on Sunday last and still there is no closure in the matter for her entire family.
When contacted for a comment, Chief Executive Officer Michael Khan said the doctor who performed the post mortem is yet to submit his report to the hospital. Khan further explained that the tissues which were removed for further testing will take some time, hence the delay. He however noted that sometime later today he will be in a position to better pronounce on the matter.
On July 29 last, Jerrick, a student of Bygeval Secondary School died while being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Initially the teen’s relatives said they were told that he was being treated for leptospirosis, but hours before he died they were told he was being treated for malaria.

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