After three years of possible power providing discussions between the Guyana Power and Light Inc. and the Giftland Mall, a Power Providing Agreement (PPA) has still not materialised. Lamenting this state of affairs is Mr Roy Beepat, the owner of Giftland Mall.
In a frank statement released to the media today, Beepat said that over the past few months Giftland has been receiving “many warm wishes and congratulations of the announcement…by the Office of the President that a Power Providing Agreement was about to be signed, allowing an end to the constant power cuts which have been plaguing the East Coast due to lack of generating capacity.”
He continued, “We have also received numerous concerns as to why there are still occasional power cuts to the East Coast region.” Beepat made it clear that “we wish to state that no PPA has been signed to date and this will explain why power cuts continue when there is lack of required power generating capacity.”
According to Beepat, the last he heard of the matter was that GPL required justification as to why it should buy power from Giftland. “Apparently cheaper cost, no liability or commitment, and readily available power supply to make up the deficiency are not sufficient reasons,” Beepat said, even as he debunked what he described as “propaganda” that “we cannot supply the required power at the time slots required.”
Beepat went on, “We stand by our statement that a dedicated 3MW is available and we can supply up to 4.5MW as required. We are not sure what further justification is required to show why this can withstand any scrutiny, as stated, [since] our prices are competitive and better than power supplied by GPL Diesel generators.”
The Giftland owner emphasised, “The supply is available without any expenditure to GPL and without commitment for long term supplies.”
