oh this is huge huge, this is the kind of development and progress we cannot deny happening in Guyana.

HUGE, HUGE!

Region 9 residents trained in installation, maintenance of solar home systems -- Regions 7, 8 and 10 next targeted for training

Georgetown, GINA, September 1, 2011
Source - GINA

Residents of Karasabai, Region 9 exhibit their skills learnt from the training conducted by technicians from the Hinterland Electrification Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister

Region 9 residents on Friday last, completed a five-day training session by technicians from the Hinterland Electrification Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister dealing with installation and maintenance of the 65-Watt solar systems which will be distributed as soon as training for all stakeholders concludes.

Technicians from the Unit will be dispatched to Regions 7, 8 and 10 from September 5, to conduct similar training sessions with residents of other Amerindian villages and clusters.

The training commenced on August 22 and saw technicians dispatched at Lethem, Shulinab, Karasabai, Annai and Aishalton to host training sessions simultaneously.

Government approved the procurement of approximately 11,000 systems, which will be distributed to indigenous communities across the country.

Days one and two of the training saw participants being taught the theory as it pertains to the basics in electricity and the installation of points, whilst during days three to five they were trained in the practical aspects.

Residents from Aishalton and technicians from the Hinterland Electrification Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister pose for a photograph upon completion of the five-day training session

The initiative to conduct training sessions with residents of hinterland communities, aims at empowering representatives from Amerindian villages and clusters to spearhead the installation of the solar home systems, which includes installing the panel itself on the outer part of the building and switches and bulbs internally.

The solar home system which provides each home with power for lighting small household appliances and to generate income, is part of government’s initiative to improve the standard of living and livelihood of those residing in Amerindian villages and clusters across the country.

Towards this end, government has significantly advanced the distribution of solar panels under the Hinterland Electrification Programme to ensure that hinterland communities benefit from electricity.

Some of the Aishalton residents who participated in the five-day training session with technicians from the Hinterland Electrification Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister exhibit their skills learnt

The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs has distributed 574 solar panels to 16 Amerindian communities in Regions One, Two and Nine under the Unserved Areas Electrification Programme, which saw 1,750 hinterland homes benefiting from electricity.

This project plays a critical role in achieving the Millennium Development Goal of ensuring environmental sustainability in Guyana because it will rectify the long-pervading inequity by providing access to clean and renewable energy throughout hinterland communities, thereby contributing significantly to Guyana’s overall Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).In so doing, the savings from the accelerating cost of imported fuel and resultant reduction in energy costs will play an important role in the strategy to secure Guyana’s economic development.

Still no regular electricity in Lethem
By STABROEK STAFF | 2 COMMENTS | LETTERS | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
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Dear Editor,

September marks the fourth month since the Lethem Power Company (LPC) decided to institute a reduced electricity supply to Lethem and its environs on the grounds that it was difficult to get a reliable supply of fuel for its generator due to the rainy season and the deteriorating GT-Lethem road.

This situation is now getting totally unacceptable as it seems that LPC has no intention of returning to supplying the regular electricity service even though the GT-Lethem road has long reopened to traffic and the fuel supply should have returned to normal.

Is there a deeper reason why the Lethem community continues to have this rationed electricity supply? Are we being punished for some unseen reason? Or is it simply that the management of the LPC is incapable of managing its operations in an efficient manner? It seems as though the rainy season and bad roads were simply excuses to return Lethem to its previous state of limited electricity. The question to be asked is why?

Where is the management of LPC or the regional administration or even the government? Shouldn’t they at least have the decency to provide the people of Lethem with a reason/s why we still have to be faced with this shortage? Is fuel still in short supply? If so, why? The road is no longer impassable and the rains have stopped so these cannot be the reasons. Is LPC being held to ransom by the fuel supplier? If so, can’t the management put alternative arrangements in place? Is there a financial reason? Could it be that LPC is not sustainable? If so, are any plans in place to correct this defect?

Our government often goes public and announces that Lethem is the hub of its supposed development plan for our country. Yet for every positive step that is taken in this area, we seem to be doomed to many negative ones which effectively cancel out our development. A reliable source of electricity is arguably the main prerequisite for any proper development to take place. Imagine all those business people that invested in Lethem assuming that they would have had a reliable electricity supply, only to be faced with this present shortcoming.

It is time that Lethem says enough is enough and start getting LPC to operate like a professional utility that is expected to provide an efficient service to the people. Well-known businesswoman Ms Linda Khan had to arrange an impromptu protest for LPC to restore electricity after the floods. This was again another instance of LPC shunning its responsibilities. It took a public outcry for the matter to be resolved. Should we go along this route again for our concerns to be addressed and remedied?

It is disappointing that the two main daily newspapers, Kaieteur and Stabroek News, have reporters residing in Lethem yet neither have deemed this issue important enough to warrant some investigative journalism (Ed note: SN has no reporter stationed in Lethem). They are urged to reconsider and at least make some information available to the public.

Lethem needs to have it 24-hour electricity restored. We have gone forward as a community and this present situation is a major backward step.

The onus is on our government, which thought it best to develop our area, to ensure that this development continues. If there are regressions then the people become upset and protest the conditions. We look forward to their intervention and a return to normalcy of the electricity supply in Lethem.

Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)