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Consumer body calls on PUC to reduce GWI’s reconnection fee from $7,500 to $100
By Rehanna Ramsay
Kaieteur News – Guyana Consumers Association (GCA) Consultant, Dr. Yog Mahadeo has asked the Public Utilities Commission to assist the Guyanese public by reducing the $7500 reconnection fee set by the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) to just $1oo.
GCA Consultant, Dr. Yog Mahadeo
Dr. Mahadeo, in an impassioned presentation to the PUC on Monday, pointed to several reasons why the request for a reduction should be supported. Among them, the consultant pointed to the fact that Guyanese can hardly afford to pay the reconnection fees set by other utilities companies, like Guyana Power and Light (GPL) and Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) even though the fees are much lower. GPL and GTT fees set at $3000 and $1000 respectively.
However, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GWI, Shaik Baksh, said that the fees are necessary to help GWI pay off its debt and continue providing the service. He claimed the public must take into consideration several reliefs offered by the Government even as steps were taken by the administration to keep GWI afloat. The explanation came only after Dr. Mahadeo presented the list of reasons to support his call for a reduction to the Commission responsible for reviewing and regulating charges of the utility companies. “We live in a time when a Government justifies giving a home $25,000 as a cash relief. But a government-owned monopoly service can gouge those same people through high tariffs, and through punitive reconnection rates,” he said referencing GWI’s fees.
CEO of GWI Shaik Baksh
Dr. Mahadeo underlined, among other things, the hardship that ordinary citizens had to endure during the COVID-19 pandemic. He posited that “…More than 60% of persons cannot afford to give away their food money to GWI…The telephone companies’ use a super-charge for reconnection of approximately one thousand dollars – which consumers are, concerned with…GPL triples that amount… But the GWI charges a whopping $7,500 to regular consumers plus a waiting time penalty of 48 hours for those consumers who dare to be disconnected because they had to choose bread over water or health medicines over water…”
According to Dr. Mahadeo, the management of GWI is basically putting consumers in situation where they can be deprived of a basic human right.
“Almost US $40 dollars is the reconnection fee for water in a country where we work for 300 us dollars a month. 13% of a person’s salary! A week’s wage for the unskilled.”
In addition to “the costly reconnection fee,” Dr Mahadeo noted that GWI provides a service that leaves much to be desired. He stressed that consumers have to pay for poor and inefficient service and undrinkable water. We cannot even wash our clothes with the water since the iron content destroys it all. But we have to pay.”
PUC Chairperson, Dela Briton
The GCA Consultant said that the GWI’s service is even more worrying when one takes into consideration the massive amount of monies that is being spent annually to improve the service. “One look at the National Tender Board website will show the continued massive advance procurement practice of the company that continues to buy for years in advance. They buy huge amounts of inventories in advance…”
As such, Mahadeo believes that it would be fair that consumers are made to pay a nominal reconnection fee. However, in response to the points raised by the Consultant, Baksh and a team from GWI noted that the fees are a necessary part of the company’s efforts to generate revenue.
For his part, Mr. Baskh said that Mahadeo’s $100 proposal is “ridiculous, in the context of what of is taking place globally and what is happening at GWI.” He noted too that Mahadeo went off on a tangent, instead of addressing the issue at hand. According to Baksh, GWI’s rate is justified. The CEO explained before the new management took over GWI was in debt and needed to find ways to prevent the company from becoming inoperable.
“We had to find new measures and have been working to implement them in the most humane way. We have a system that offers consumers a number of reliefs. Under new management at GWI and with a new Government in place, we were able to subsidise payment for pensioners and reduce the water tariff,” Baksh said. The CEO noted too that the water company does not disconnect water without careful consideration. “It is done in a humane way, consumers get up five months to pay any balance owed to GWI before the service is disconnected. We have been working to try and fix the system,” the GWI official added in plea for the charges to remain in force.
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