President Ali says gov’t will hold GPL accountable for underperformance

The management of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) company will be held accountable if the country’s power supply system is not improved significantly by 2025, President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has declared.

President Ali addressed the critical issue during a second episode of ‘In the Seat’.

The country’s power supply reliability has been causing widespread frustration among citizens and adversely affecting the business community.

Addressing the issue on Saturday evening, President Ali pointed out that heavy investments have been made to improve the transmission and distribution network and visible improvements are expected in GPL’s service delivery. Failure to do so, will be met with dire consequences, he warned.

“I have made it very clear to the management of GPL that heads will roll there too.  If we do not see marked improvement at the end of January….then heads will roll,” the president said.

Further, President Ali noted that the government is currently exploring the need for technical expertise to ensure the power supply system is effectively managed.

“We are examining that right now, because I will tell you…we are investing to make it better and we will hold accountable the persons who ought to ensure the system works and works better,” he said.

When the PPP/C Administration took office in 2020, there was little to no investments in improving the transmission and distribution lines. This neglect resulted in the system being incapable of meeting demands

President Ali affirmed that significant work is ongoing to modernise the transmission and distribution network.

Moreover, additional power has been procured via a second powership, and work is taking place to create a heavy-duty transmission line that will be connected to a centralised control centre.

These are just part of solutions to provide relief to the populace in the short-term.

A multi-billion gas-to-energy power plant is being constructed in Wales in Region Three and is expected to come onstream in 2025. This major undertaking is expected to provide consumers with reliable and cheaper power and slash electricity costs by 50 per cent, allowing consumers to save significantly in the coming years.