GPL – Mismanagement or Conspiracy?

It has taken me 3 weeks to compile this blog, and the primary reason for this is the power utility company in Guyana – Guyana Power & Light, GPL. It seems as though somehow they know just when I sit at the computer to give us blackout. We’ve had blackouts every single day at least once a day from the very day after CARIFESTA ended here on the East Coast where I live. And this after absolutely no blackouts during the 2 weeks or so this fest lasted.
So tell me this, how was that one pulled off? Is it through the incompetence of those in charge of the power company? After all, heads rolled (literally it turned out) when it was found out that there was a huge foul-up with the fuel supply to the utility sometime back. Now all is silent. Very few have spoken about it in our media.
Freddie made mention of it where (jokingly I presume) he posited it was a conspiracy against the CARICOM Secretariat. But maybe it is really a conspiracy indeed?
How are we to know that this time around maybe there is another fuel crisis in the company, but out of shame nothing can be said because to roll heads again for the same reason would make fools of those doing the head rolling? How are we to know that maybe it isn’t the fuel, but instead the improper management of the equipment that are now revolting for poor maintenance?
Whichever it is, we here continue to suffer, mostly in the dark, but lots of times in the day too. How you say? Get this – the water supply is dependent on power from GPL! But that is a whole other story.
On Sunday last, we had 5(!!) blackouts. Some that lasted a minute. Some 10 minutes. But mostly for a few hours. Whoa!!! Almost identical repeat on Monday, the very next day. Yesterday it was for 4 hours, and guess why. “Because GPL does not have the capacity to generate power for the demands of everyone”. This from an employee of theirs. This also, after it was declared that “There will be NO blackouts during the Christmas period”. Leon Suseran has his say here. Today was no exception
So what are we experiencing then? It is called “scheduled interruptions”. Actually advertised in the Sundays newspapers. Something I am forced to look for every week to have an idea how to manage the stuff in the fridge. I remember Adam Harris speaking about this in one of his columns, and reminiscing about the days of old (some of you might remember Wartsila during the PNC days) when he would rush to see when he would be able to schedule his reading sessions. I guess Freddie can’t be too much off when he compares this government to the PNC.
Something I would like GPL to consider though: when power eventually kicks back in, then everybody’s equipment (especially fridges and freezers) have to work doubly hard to get back up to speed. Result? More work for GPL’s equipment, more fuel to burn. Unless of course, they are looking (probably salivating?) at the additional revenue they will get just for this reason.
Here’s what I think might be the biggest conspiracy of it all, and this has to do in particular with us on the East Coast (and Berbice too Mr. Suseran) getting the bulk of the blackouts. See, in these areas, the bulk of the government support reside. So no matter how miserably they live, all will be forgotten come election day.
What say you?