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GPL has to be accountable, transparent and efficient

I refer to the letter ‘Deferred Tax was not included in GPL’s rate computation’ (SN, June 13) written by Mr Nizam Ali of Nizam Ali & Company, the firm which audited the 2012 financial statements of Guyana Power and Light and which signed the Final Return Certificate (FRC) for GPL’s proposed tariff increase of 26.7%.

Perhaps Mr Ali did not see press release No 33 issued by GPL and dated May 8, 2013, so I quote for his benefit the last sentence of paragraph 2 of the release which states:

“The GPL Final Return Certificate (FRC) was accompanied by a Notice of Compliance issued by an independent firm of accountants and GPL’s 2012 audited accounts that show GPL losing $7.6 billion in 2012” (emphasis mine).

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GPL cannot be allowed to continue operating with a failed model and incompetent management

On or around April 22 last, the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) announced it was seeking a 17% tariff increase because of the $5.2 billion budget cut by the National Assembly. Yet only three weeks later, on May 15, the government-owned utility submitted to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) what is called a Final Return Certificate (FRC) which it claims allows it to increase tariffs by an even higher percentage – 26.7% – effective May, 2013. According to a statement issued by GPL last Saturday, “the GPL Board is actively engaged in planning its implementation.”

According to the GPL, the increase is calculated in accordance with the 1999 Electricity Sector Reform Act (ESRA) and a Licence that allowed the previous private investor to increase (or decrease) its tariffs, using an internationally acceptable methodology based on a rate of return. According to the company, the FRC was accompanied by a Notice of Compliance issued by an unnamed independent firm of Accountants and GPL’s 2012 audited accounts which show GPL losing $7.6 billion in 2012.

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Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation racks up heavy losses; questions about where the income goes

Introduction
For several years I have drawn attention to the matter of annual reporting by the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation (CJIA), an entity established under the Public Corporations Act. I could not understand why the Audit Office which does the corporation’s audit, the Public Accounts Committee or someone, anyone, was not asking, nay demanding, that the law be complied with, with respect to the laying of accounts and reports in the National Assembly. So while there was incompetence on the part of Minister Robeson Benn who is the subject minister and of the Public Accounts Committee and the Audit Office, there was a question too whether the corporation did enough to counter speculation that it probably was unaware of its obligations under the act. It took them all more than a decade before the public was able to see for the first time any seemingly independent information on the corporation.

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