I suggest the GNBS puts its house in order

Feb 24, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The Guyana National Bureau Of Standards recently announced that the Agency will be enforcing the Standards for electrical fittings and equipment used in the country. This along with the fact that the Government Electrical Inspectorate has also made efforts to extend its services to hinterland areas like Lethem should be seen as a move in the right direction. It is rather ironic therefore that substandard electrical products and non licensed electricians are being used on Government contracts and paid for by the Government.
In Region 9, only buildings located in Lethem are inspected by Electrical Inspectors. Buildings located in villages elsewhere and which account for most of the electrical works given out in contracts are not inspected. As a result, cheap Chinese cable and other electrical material are mostly used and installed in many cases by unlicensed electricians and sometimes by the contractor themselves who might have an idea on wiring.
In the bill of quantities, there are rigid requirements for materials and equipment for solar power contracts including sun resistant cables of certain sizes, DC disconnect switches and circuit breakers, etc., but in most cases contractors are installing cables of much smaller sizes and using AC switches and circuit breakers which are much cheaper.
Editor, the astonishing thing about this is the use of prohibited electrical materials and unlicensed electricians are approved by Government Engineers and Contractors are paid for those jobs. Apart from defrauding the Government by not supplying materials required in the bill of quantities, these projects do not fulfill the purpose they were intended for because a careful check can reveal that most solar installations and by extension the building’s electrical wiring does not function shortly after installation.
I would suggest that the GNBS put its house in order before confronting the population.

Yours faithfully,
Patrick Fitzpatrick

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