The Opposition Coalition, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) is calling on the government to grant electricity bill relief to low-income households.
The call comes days after the government put measures in place to slash the fuel prices at State-run refill stations. The former regime says that price reduction at the pumps will not fully address the high of living woes in the country that have been exacerbated by the ongoing Russian/Ukraine War and the pandemic-affected global supply chain.
It is advocating for electricity bill relief, noting that the country can afford it due to windfall from high international oil prices.
“Though the PPP’s cuts in gas and diesel prices in no way approach the large scale of our idea, the government could have offered this relief much earlier, given the persistently elevated international oil prices. In fact, the Bank of Guyana mid-year report indicates that because of the high oil price, Guyana earned almost a third more revenue than expected. Yet the PPP refused to budge and has only now, with understandable shame, meekly announced these cuts,” the party said via a statement today.
“We call on the government to urgently introduce ELECTRICITY BILL RELIEF FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS. In this scheme, households whose total monthly light bill is less than a specified dollar amount (a cap) will not be required to pay GPL. Instead, the GoG will stand the costs and compensate GPL for the total amount forgone. The cap must be chosen to cover as many low-income households as possible. Those whose light bills are above the cap will continue to pay GPL as per the norm for now,” the party said.
