Former Minister for Energy, Sen. Gregory Bowen says the current Prime Minister Hon. Tillman Thomas is largely responsible for the current rise in electricity charges which are hurting the ordinary man as well as businessmen and women nationwide.
According to Bowen, in 1994 the then NDC appointed a special team of which Hon. Tillman Thomas was a key member, to negotiate the sale of GRENLEC. Thomas and the team agreed to sell GRENLEC, a company which was worth over EC 0 million then, for a mere EC million. Today, the company is worth many times more and WRB made back its million investment after only four years.
The local negotiating team went further to use ECmillion of the ECmillion received for fifty percent of and controlling interest in the company to buy a new engine as a present to WRB Inc., the US-based group. To make matters worse, the then government went further to remove by legislation the regulating of the price of electricity by the Public Utilities Commission. As a result, the company does not have to get permission to increase the price of electricity.
After assuming office in 1995, the New National Party made several attempts to reverse the action of the NDC administration, however many of these could not be pursued to the end since any difference of opinion had to be resolved by the International Centre for the settlement of Investment Disputes for which the cost was prohibitive.
The Opposition as well as private sector organizations is extremely concerned about the constant increase in the electricity charges.
Members of the Private sector are indicating that if the price were to further increase (as is anticipated), it could result in the closure of many businesses island wide. According to Bowen, based on the current situation facing Grenada at this time, this can only mean more unemployment and more social problems.
The Opposition is therefore calling on the Hon. Tillman Thomas to take urgent action in the interest of the poor and vulnerable and on behalf of businessmen/women who are extremely valuable to the economy at this time.
In addition to the quickest implementation of the liberalization process commenced by the NNP administration, the Opposition will like to see Government form a special group comprising representatives from various stakeholder organizations to discuss this issue and to come up with recommendations for immediate short term relief.
