Presidential Candidate of the APNU, Aubrey Norton, has outlined his party’s plans to fix the country’s power generation problem and ultimately end power outages.

During an interview this morning on 104.1 Lite FM, Mr. Norton said although the Government has made several interventions including the rental of two power ships, the power supply problem still continues.

“And now the Government come with power ship, something that we are not going to own, we are going to be paying these people for the rest of your life, that to me, reeks of corruption. We are going to take the approach of going back to that plan, adopting it and improving it and ensure that we put in place effective management that can manage the power company and take us out of this situation where there are blackouts,” Mr. Norton stated. 

Mr. Norton told listeners that between 2015- 2020 under the APNU+AFC Government, the system was improved as a result of a plan to increase power generation, improve distribution lines, and project the country’s future power needs.

However, he believes at the heart of the country’s power generation problems, is the management of the power company. He said the Government has taken an approach not to hire persons with skills to fix the power company, but continues to hire those who are politically connected.

“We are not going to do that we want professional people to run something like GPL and ensure it is efficient and effective and although David Patterson is not on our list, I don’t see us excluding him from playing a role, because he has the knowledge and so we will take a professional approach to GPL to ensure that the people of Guyana see no more blackouts in this country,” Norton stated. 

According to the APNU Leader, the Government’s inability to get the gas-to-energy project off the ground years after it was scheduled for completion, is further compounding the country’s energy generation problems.

Mr. Norton said the project which was at its planning stage during the APNU+AFCs Government, should have been long completed.

“If you consider this project, and you have the view that it is going to bring down the cost of electricity by 50%, then you should have known, if it doesn’t reach the timeline, almost automatically, everyday that it extends, the cost will go and that will end up being by consumers of electricity and taxpayers. So, the government, by its incompetence would have already removed the possibility of us halving the electricity bill, by their inability to manage the construction to manage the project,” Norton said.

He said the APNU will also introduce an electricity subsidy of $10,000 per household and improve the Public Utilities Commission as part of a broader intervention to ensure that the power company functions effectively.

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