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PUC has recovered $8M for overbilled customers
– opens branch in Berbice
By Leon Suseran
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) now has an official presence in
The new PUC branch in Port Mourant, Berbice which was opened on Monday.
the Berbice area.
The statutory body, which has oversight of the utilities in Guyana and was established in 1990, for some time now has been trying to bring its services to Berbicians and has finally delivered on its promise.
The office, which is located at Port Mourant, Corentyne, obliquely opposite the Institute of Private Entrepreneurial Development (IPED), was officially opened on Monday.
Chairman of the PUC, Justice Prem Persaud, speaking with Kaieteur News stated that “we’ve been receiving complaints from Berbice where people have to go to Georgetown or send down letters, but in the interest of the public and consumers, now they can come here and make their report and they would be dealt with as appropriately as we are doing it in Georgetown.”
“Anybody who has a complaint, they are free to come in; I encourage them to come in. They can go to the press; they can go to the television station but at the same time, come to us also,” he urged. “We have competent staff- two young ladies- very experienced and one was involved in consumer matters and dealing with the public.”
According to the Chairman, Port Mourant is very suitable since it is centrally located between Corentyne and New Amsterdam and the PUC is now gearing to open another office in Essequibo.
“And we are looking at New Amsterdam and other areas along the Corentyne to set up offices to meet the needs and we encourage people to come in.”
The services provided by the PUC are free of cost and persons with grouses against the utility companies can send their complaints by letters, telephone or faxes. Persons can also fill a complaint form.
PUC has regulatory to take and deal with complaints against the Guyana Power and Light Inc, Guyana Water Inc., the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company and Digicel.
Persaud noted that for the past three or four years in Georgetown, “we have received in excess of $8M credit for consumers who were over-billed and other kinds of things and the Act has recently been amended whereby penalties can be imposed if they GPL fail to meet certain standards.”
PUC is now preparing for a public hearing to take place soon in Georgetown where GPL will have to come out and openly report to the PUC their level of performance to the nation “and if it is not satisfactory, we can impose a penalty of 25 per cent of their dividends”.
“We’re moving ahead and we’re getting a lot of assistance from the utility companies out there,” he said.
Meanwhile, when asked about the possibility of an increase in electricity tariffs, Persaud noted that he has seen a report in the press on Sunday where GPL’s CEO, Bharrat Dindyal, was “complaining of the cost”.
Persaud said that “we accept that there has been an increase in the cost of fuel but at the same time, you have to take into account, that at the moment, you are paying one- third more than what you are supposed to be paying because of the losses”.
Persaud said that he hopes GPL goes after every person who steals electricity and “not just the selected few”.
“As a matter of fact, the Chambers of Commerce has issued a document– a letter to their members who are prominent businessmen in the community to say that they have received reports from GPL that consumers and business people are stealing electricity”.
For increases in electricity tariffs to be a reality, Persaud said that a lot of factors have to be taken into consideration.
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