GPL responds to Sahadeo Bates

Jan 31, 2012 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
GPL wishes to respond to a letter from one Sahadeo Bates in your January 26th issue captioned “GPL’s officials should he blaming themselves”.
The writer contends that:
1) Consumers cannot tamper with and bypass meters and GPL’s employees are the main culprits and they are not being pursued and prosecuted.
2) GPL is allocating a limited number of street lights and these are fitted with poor quality photocells (sensors) which fail quickly,
Meter tampering and by-pass in most cases is done by persons whose services are solicited by the Customer. These persons include staff, Contractors and even members of the public. Where the evidence is available, GPL takes appropriate action against the perpetrator and beneficiary. It should be noted that penalties for staff or Contractors convicted of facilitating electricity theft can be twice that of members of the public.
Whether the Customer is committing or commissioning the act, the intent and who benefits is clear. The Law obligates the Customer to keep the meter safe and our experience is that in only a few cases the Customer would divulge the name of the person they solicit.
We are therefore not trying to fool anyone regarding our seriousness to reduce electricity theft and have said many times before that the problem is as acute as it is because of the level of dishonesty and criminal behaviour we have to contend with.
In respect of street lighting, the writer is probably not aware that GPL is not responsible for street lighting and therefore does not purchase or allocate lamps. This is the responsibility of the responsible Lighting Authority. The Lighting Authority can be the City Council, Town Council or NDC.
The last paragraph of the writer’s letter needs no response as the premise on which his pronouncements on street lighting are made are wrong.
Guyana Power and Light (GPL)

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