Little answers over non-appointment of GPL’s board -UN offices to be housed in Eddy Grant’s Kingston property

Dec 12, 2018 News

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure came under fire for the non-existence of a Board of Directors for the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).
Since February, there has not been a board.
The last Chairman, Robert Badal, opted not to return, saying he wanted to concentrate in a major expansion of the Pegasus Hotel, which he owns.
Since then, reportedly the Cabinet has rejected names of new board members.
Yesterday, Opposition members wanted to know how GPL was making key decision, including for major, multi-million contracts.
Currently, a number of major projects including a $4B-plus smart meter and new transmission lines, involving a Chinese contractor, are underway.
Yesterday, during the considerations of the estimates for the MPI, Opposition parliamentarian, Juan Edghill, questioned a $3.6B allocation for what is known as a Power Utility Upgrade Project (PUUP).
The MP also wanted to know how GPL is administering the procurement.
According to Minister David Patterson, it is the Project Execution Unit which is making decision for the project.
The ministry would not be drawn into naming the members of the board and instead pointed out that he is there to talk about the estimations relating to the line item for the expenditure.
Another Opposition member, Irfaan Ali, asked the minister if he was exercising authority in the absence of a board.
However, Patterson insisted that it was the PEU that was running the project.
Opposition MP, Gail Teixeira, was also curious whether the PEU was making policies in place of the board.
With billions of dollars handled, GPL’s operations have come under fire with outages continuing despite billions of dollars plugged into remedial projects.
GPL has been looking at a number of issues, including changing transmission lines, transformers and even building sub-stations to improve efficiency.
Meanwhile, Ali also raised questions about a $190M-plus allocation for rental of buildings.
It was disclosed that the amount was set aside for a rental next year of Duke Street property belonging to singer, Eddy Grant.
The property, located south of the US embassy, says Minister Patterson, will house all the United Nation offices, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNICEF, UNDP, PAHO, UNAIDS and IOM with more than 200 staffers expected to be there.
According to Patterson, UN security officials came down to inspect the premises and he is convinced that it is a good deal.

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