Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo today declared that “ineptitude” at the highest level in Government should be blamed for the power problems being experienced by the Guyana Power and Light Company.
He said the PPP, which spent 23 years in office before being booted out in 2015, cannot be blamed for the state of the power company today.
At his weekly press conference this afternoon, Mr. Jagdeo laid the blame for the problems the company is facing at the feet of the Public Infrastructure Minister, David Patterson and the other Members of the Cabinet.
According to Jagdeo, Patterson has had the time to focus on many other things instead of GPL and he should accept responsibility for the problems.
“This Minister has interfered too much and so you can’t blame the operational people at GPL. It is just that these guys did not have enough investments in the right areas and they are struggling with the system. It is the Cabinet and this Minister”, Jagdeo declared.
He said when the PPP left office in 2015, there was US$30 Million that was available for GPL as part of an IDB loan. He said that could have been used to improve the power generating system at the company.
According to Jagdeo, even if the Government were to announce major plans for power generation tomorrow, it would take another year for a new generating set to arrive in the country and become functional.
He said “this is ineptitude of the Government. Every time you get a blackout, don’t blame GPL, it is Patterson and this Cabinet that are responsible. The warning signs were there from the beginning”.
Jagdeo said citizens should not take their frustration and anger out on the GPL staff and workmen who visit their villages. He said he is not confident that the current power supply problems will be solved anytime soon.
The power generating problems being currently experienced by GPL have been caused by damage to its submarine cable, which sits on the bed of the Demerara river, linking Kingston on the eastern half to Vreed-en-hoop on the west side.
When the cable was being placed in that specific area under the PPP administration, there were concerns about the placement since the area is a zone for commercial marine traffic. The concerns were ignored.
GPL now says that in hindsight, another area should have been examined.
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