Latest update August 1st, 2026 12:35 AM
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Electrocuted lad…GPL’s silence hurts family…says Power Company heartless
“Heartless” was the word used yesterday by family members of the nine-year-old lad who was electrocuted by way of an exposed Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL), wire to describe the power company.
Since the incident occurred on Wednesday evening no personnel of the state-owned power company has made contact with the Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara family.
Satyanand Balkaran
Deomattie Balkaran, the grandmother of Satyanand Balkaran, the electrocuted lad, told Kaieteur News that personnel of GPL visited the area yesterday to remove the power line that supplied electricity to her neighbour’s house.
Balkaran related that the connection to her neighbour’s house has nothing to do with her home. She said that the exposed wire was resting on her zinc shed which was supported by a zinc fence.
Cognizant of the dangerous setting, for over five months Balkaran and her neighbour had requested personnel of GPL’s Vreed-en-Hoop branch to remove the wire. However, nothing was done until the demise of the child.
On Wednesday at around 19:00hrs, Satyanand ventured into his yard in the company of his mother, Debbie Ramash and his older brother. The two boys were supposed to bathe while Ramash was doing the laundry but those plans were quickly shattered.
Ramash recalled that minutes after she began washing clothes in her yard near the “booby trapped” zinc fence, Satyanand shouted Mommy! Thinking her older son had interfered with the lad she inquired what the matter was. However, even as the older boy denied troubling his brother, Satyanand collapsed in a pool of water near the fence.
The woman said she frantically ran over to her son and grabbed him but “a shocking sensation” caused her to drop him instantly. Her maternal instincts forced her to grab the child and place him on a dry area. Seeing froth coming out of the child’s mouth, she sent her older son to get help.
Ramash recalled that her neighbour assisted her to the West Bank Demerara Regional Hospital where doctors tried to save her son’s life. But, by 19:30hrs the boy was dead.
According to Balkaran, Satyanand’s father had just left to go to the interior to work when they were forced to tell him to return home. They did not break the sad news over the telephone but told him the boy was in the hospital.
Balkaran said her son viewed the corpse of his second child at the funeral parlour yesterday. The family is preparing for the post mortem examination which would be conducted on Monday.
Balkaran said that the family will be taking the matter to the Public Utilities Commission for advice and action.
According to Justice Prem Persaud, Chairperson of the Public Utility Commission, the family needs to also report the matter to the power company. He noted that a full investigation must be conducted to determine certain facts such as whether the connection was legal.
Justice Persaud stressed that the family should ensure the matter remains alive.
Yesterday, the Public Relations officer of GPL promised Kaieteur News to provide a statement on the matter. However, this did not happen and calls to the office went unanswered.
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