Patterson is deliberately misleading the public on GPL − Prime Minister Phillips

Opposition Member of Parliament David Patterson has ascribed to himself the power to create problems where there are none, on account for his recent malicious claims against the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. according to Prime Minister, Mark Phillips.

Rejecting Patterson’s latest claims, Phillips said, “Unbelievably, Mr. Patterson, the former Minister of Infrastructure with ministerial oversight of GPL, asserts that power outages resulting from accidents are a key indicator that GPL’s network is failing. Mr. Patterson should be aware that GPL’s primary distribution network corridor is largely positioned on the earthen shoulder of main roads and transfers large amounts of power at 13,800 volts into the low voltage/ secondary network to serve customers.

“When vehicles collide with these structures, the power flow is disturbed above the prescribed limit thus activating the protection systems on the grid to prevent further damage to the network and generating assets. In some instances, this can result in widespread outages.

“We have noted the alarmingly increased number of vehicular collisions with primary structures and will shortly commence the installation of bollards around identified critical structures. Bollards are already installed around 69kV transmission structures along the East

Coast of Demerara Public Road for this very reason.”

According to the Prime Minister, the Opposition MP persists with his inaccurate and misrepresented assertions on GPL’s procurement process during his term as Minister as compared with GPL’s current procurement process. “It is important to put this inaccurate assertion into context. GPL procures significant quantities of network components (transformers, conductors, fuses, switches, insulators etc.) to ensure that planned and emergency maintenance are efficiently executed. The company procures these items at significant costs, second only to fuel purchases,” he said.

Phillips added, “During 2017, the company having a database of network components supplied by reputable industry standard manufacturers, approached these manufacturers to explore possibilities of acquiring materials at manufactures’ pric-

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