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Who are you paying for?

Oct 22, 2011 Letters

 

DEAR EDITOR,
In my opinion the cost for electricity in Guyana is way too expensive, and this causes electricity theft to always be a major problem. Some recent developments by GPL have me wondering if they are really serious about combating this situation.
I dabble a little bit with electricity, whenever there is need, and I have personally seen the incredible lengths that Guyanese could go to, just to obtain free or cheaper electricity, which proves at times to be very costly or sometimes deadly.
I have heard of GPL employees catching people stealing electricity and ending up getting bribes to stay quiet and even giving the culprits advice on how and when to steal current, and it’s as if that person gets set for life with free or cheaper current.
Recently GPL started to send letters to their consumers inviting them to switch to the pre-paid meter which the company suggests would really lower their electricity expenses by making them conserve more. I would like to know if GPL is getting the results it expected.
Word on the streets is that once you talk to the right person you could pay the guys anywhere between $15,000-$30,000, depending on your property or your appearance, and they will “do something in your meter” (I believe that they bypass the whole card system) and cause you to get free electricity all the time, but they remind you to purchase a $1,000 or any amount every month, although it is useless, so that the company will not get suspicious that you are getting free electricity if they decided to check their computer.
Apart from that, those with the post-paid meters have another option for around the same price range if the consumer is willing to pay. When they come to install the new meter, they ask you to turn on all your appliances in your house (if you decide to do business with them) and they then turn a screw in the meter which causes the meter to turn very slow, so when all the appliances are off the meter strains to move.
Now given the history in Guyana and electricity theft, one would assume that the relevant officials have done their research well and would have come up with a more sturdy system to avoid this situation, but instead, we have people punishing and paying for those who are able to bribe and obtain free electricity.
Now my question is, why don’t they re-check all new meters installed and charge the person/persons who installed them and not the consumers, because I am quite sure that the name on the form indicates who installed it. And why purchase a post-paid meter that could be adjusted, because quite frankly I am wondering who I am paying for.
Sahadeo Bates

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