The Government of Guyana on Wednesday indicated that it had inadvertently handed out a number of solar panels to residents of Port Kaituma in Region One. The government has been making moves to get the panels back, but residents have objected and believe the move is politically motivated.

In a statement, the Chief Executive officer of the Hinterland Electrification programme, Horace Williams said “Solar Home Systems are intended for households that are too far away from an electricity grid or too far apart to make the installation of a grid feasible”.

He said close to $200,000 would have been spent on one panel per household and it was realized that some households which were provided with the panels were in areas where there was electricity supply in place.

“It was never intended for Government to provide both systems to any household.”

According to the official, there were errors made in the listing and distribution of Solar Home Systems at Citrus Grove, Port Kaituma and “a number of households ended up with both benefits and were asked to return the Solar Home Systems they had inadvertently received”.

According to the government official, there was no question here of political party affiliation, whether for the Government or Opposition.

But residents in the area have been protesting the move and said the move to recover the panels was only made after some of them showed support for the APNU+AFC.

One village leader has told residents they should not return the panels and many of the residents are following his lead.

The programme of providing Solar Home Systems to hinterland households began in 2007. According to the government, nearly 20,000 hinterland households have benefited.

The government says the aim is to give every household some degree of electricity access and “as such, the political affiliation or views of members of any household is not a consideration to receive a solar system.”