Guyanese who were hoping strides made in the power generation sector under the APNU+AFC government would enjoy continuity under the current regime were recently disabused of that notion and part of it has to do with incompetence at the state power company. Former Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson revealed recently that the present Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bharat Dindyal was recommended to then Prime Minister (PM) Samuel Hinds for firing for incompetence by then Board Chairman Winston Brassington.
This revelation was made today in an exclusive interview on our affiliate ‘Below De Belt’ podcast hosted by Sherod Duncan. Mr. Patterson further alleged that in the report to the PM, then Board Chair of GPL stated that Dindyal was responsible for the mismanagement of millions of US dollars in equipment and that he would destroy the infrastructure of GPL.
GPL announced recently that its Garden of Eden, East Bank of Demerara (EBD), plant is being shut down as engineers fear a massive explosion. The CEO Bharrat Dindyal told the media that the heavy fuel being used is getting into the exhaust system and warned that, “Out of an abundance of caution, we have to shut down the plant… should that continue,” he warned, “a massive explosion is possible”.
It was an announcement Patterson describes as “little boys, who don’t know what they are doing.” He accused the Government of playing the blame game instead of doing what’s right for GPL and the Guyanese people. The former Public Infrastructure Minister (now Public Works) questioned the Government’s firing of a “highly qualified” CEO Mr. Albert Gordon when they were installed in office in 2020, and the decision to rehire Bharat Dindyal who they were about to fire in 2014 for incompetence and mismanagement.
He boasted of the many improvements made to GPL infrastructure by the APNU+AFC Government and the efforts made to address the ‘blackout’ situation in the country. Under the APNU+AFC Government new generating sets worth over US$100 million were installed in Bartica, Berbice, Anna Regina and elsewhere, the former minister stated.
In a statement released on its Facebook page GPL said, “The unavailability of 46.5 MWs will impact the available generation capacity within the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) and result in load shedding in some areas”. “Our engineers will continue to review the company’s available generation capacity against the projected demand over the coming days to determine whether further load shedding will be required.”
“Guyana peak demand is about 125 MW, the Garden of Eden substation supplies around 47 MW to the National grid. As a result of this shortfall, Guyanese can expect an average of around 8 hours of blackout daily, Patterson stated. The fear of many Guyanese and leading experts is that given the seriousness of the problem, it could take weeks before GPL can get a handle on the present blackout situation.
More, In The Ring.
