Hairdressers face off in wake of GPL’s move to dismantle illegal connections

May 19, 2019 News

Several hairdressers operating close to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) office at Vreed-en-Hoop, yesterday staged a vocal protest against GPL’s

how safe are these haphazard connections on homes on Saffon Street, Georgetown, especially with residents using the stairway, passing within inches of these wires?

intended move to seek out and dismantle several illegal connections from which the hairdressers were allegedly obtaining electricity.
Hairdressers, yesterday, were observed outside their salons , not only loudly protesting the company’s intentions, but also making threats to one hairdresser who they claimed divulged the information to the media.
The issue was made public when a disagreement between two hairdressers saw one ‘letting the cat out the bag’ and directing persons to just where the illegal wires were concealed.
A brawl recently was what revealed that several salons were illegally obtaining electricity, just within a few meters of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) office at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara.
GPL sources at Vreed-en-Hoop yesterday when contacted said that an immediate investigation will be launched into the matter, but up to press time yesterday, sources informed that no representative from the Vreed-en-Hoop office had visited the location.
Arguments by a few hairdressers yesterday were that an illegal connection was not made by them, but instead was done so by other businesses around the area.
Haphazard electrical connections
Meanwhile several residents in the West Demerara District are complaining about haphazard connections done to their homes by GPL representatives.
These connections, they say, pose danger to property, and their person.
Residents occupying a building at 57 Roraima Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara, told Kaieteur News that for months now they have been complaining to GPL field workers about a connection outside the home that would spark during rainy weather, plunging the entire home into darkness.
Tenants who occupy at least four apartments in the building have explained that during power surges the fixture outside the home would spark really badly and many has a result have suffered great losses when electrical appliances burnt and smoked as a result.
They said that their pleas have gone unheeded. Usually when complaints are made, GPL staffers would just come and repair the fixture and seal it with either duct tape or black insulation tape. They said wires are exposed and threatens the safety of residents there.
Some residents in Georgetown have complained that haphazard connections have been made to their homes as well by GPL, which does not guarantee safety from electronically induced fires.

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