GPL MAIN STREET – a definite nightmare worse than the u.s. embassy

Jun 18, 2014 Letters

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Dear Editor,
I would like to publicly compliment the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) who, under its present Chief Executive Officer, Bharat Dindyal, has brought light to places in Guyana that had for so long been in darkness, and for trying to bring relief and excellent management to a most corrupt and difficult utility.  He has a Herculean task.
However, there is a growing phenomenon taking stranglehold on many public corporations, and GPL with all its innovativeness of pre-paid meters is a victim of this deadly trend. I refer to the adoption of systems that frustrate and anger customers and result in lost man power and as a result, money, for the country as a whole.
Something is very wrong when it will take someone an entire day to conduct business at any office. This is what is happening when one goes to make enquires at GPL. Just recently, I sent my secretary to conduct business on my behalf. After waiting for some time for her to return, I called her and was told that she was letter ‘I’ number 86 and that there were now dealing with letter ‘G’ number 76. This meant that they had to get to ‘G’ 100 then begin again at ‘H’ 1; get through another 100 persons before they got to ‘I’, and she was holding number 86 in the ‘I’ series. This was around 14:30hrs. She had left to conduct business at GPL Main Street at 11:00hrs. At 15:30hrs I asked her to come out of the line and return to the office.
The next morning she returned to GPL and at 07:30 there was already 35 persons in front of her waiting in line. This begs the question, “How early does one have to be at GPL in the hope of getting business done so that one could go about the rest of the day as scheduled?”
My frustration, however, goes beyond merely my own inconvenience. As a business man and someone who knows how much money is drained from a business in lost man power, I wonder at all the businesses bleeding money while their employees spend the day at GPL; and these employees have no choice, if they don’t want to be left in the darkness some unexpected night.
Apart from the lost man hours think about the thousands of people who have their lifestyles disrupted every day, those who lose money because they have to stay away from work and the hundreds of businesses undermanned because their employees are standing in line at GPL.
Something has to be done to better customer service at GPL. Some better system has to be put in place to deal with customer issues and these seem to be many. It is easier to get into the American Embassy and obtain a VISA than it is to get into GPL and be sure of service.
Recently, the line meter and connectors were erroneously removed, by an incompetent GPL officer, from a property our company manages for a client (meter # N12724431, Account # 0088837 South Road). Was this supposed to have led to an offer to corrupt us by assuming we would offer a bribe to have it remain? NEVER!!!
We contacted Mr. Watson, the meter manager, and after going through all the hurdles of the bureaucracy endemic at GPL, we were told that a huge mistake had been made. He also indicated his frustration with the entire process.
We took the issue to GPL Main Street and the customer service representative, without listening to the matter to the full details, said to us “If you thief electricity, it got foh get disconnect” This is what paying customers have to put up with on a daily basis.
Realizing that I was not going to get a proper hearing from someone displaying that level of incompetence, I went further and spoke with Mr. Johnson, who, like the professional he is, listened to my complaint and between himself and Mr. Watson, the service was restored after a few days. In the meantime, my client’s tenants had to suffer because of the incompetence of one GPL Field Officer.
Additionally, I manage two other locations where the tenants are receiving free electricity since the pre-paid meters have malfunctioned. Reports have been made over and over to the relevant senior management personnel at GPL. Investigations were done and straight connections were made. Therefore, for quite a long period, I have been managing two properties where expatriate tenants are enjoying free electricity because someone at GPL can’t supply new pre-paid meters to these two properties as yet.
As much as I manage these properties, and I understand GPL’s service oriented approach to pre-paid meter customers, I think it morally and philosophically wrong for someone to be receiving a service free that everyone else is required to pay for. These are expatriate citizens, who can afford to pay for the service being provided to them, and whether it is expatriates or native citizens, people must pay for the services they receive.
This is the principle by which I operate and the principle any loyal Guyanese citizen must adopt. In situations like the aforementioned, I believe that GPL in providing the satisfaction it so desires to give to its pre-paid customers, should charge them reasonable estimated electricity consumption charges while they sort issues with meters that malfunction.
One of these pre paid meters, Duncan Street, Lamaha Gardens has since been replaced.
To my mind many of the issues people go to GPL to deal with could be avoided by GPL becoming more efficient in other areas of public service such as meter readers who will carry out their task conscientiously. In my own situation, my secretary was there to enquire into what was an obviously glaring discrepancy in the billing for electricity consumption for a property I lease.
The Client had moved out in February of this year after clearing all GPL expenses, No one has since inhabited the property and other than two lights left on for security purposes there is no other electricity being consumed. In March I received a bill for $48,000; in April a bill for $48,000; and in May a bill for $5,000.
Note there had been no change in electricity consumption from March to May and no one occupying the house.  This says that either this meter is malfunctioning or the previous two readings were estimates. Since this matter is yet to be resolved, I will use this forum to publicly ask GPL for an investigation of the meter at 28 Bel Air Avenue, Lamaha Gardens. (meter # 40712/account # 0057683)
GPL needs to put its house in order so that citizens of this country do not have to go through so many frustrations, in order to get a meter, get a query heard or get new service. I urge GPL to bring some light into this darkness so that we could wake up from the public service nightmare that dealing with GPL has become.
Notwithstanding, however, I am sure that as the premier electricity provider in Guyana, GPL has a great future and I commend them on the steps they are taking to stop the rampant theft of electricity and the decision to jail the perpetrators. And while you deal with these issues, please take note that some GPL staff encourages this type of behaviour, since it is known that some of them elicit bribery to manipulate meters and provide wire to persons.
Roshan Khan

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