A BPL truck out on the road.
By SANCHESKA DORSETT
Tribune Staff Reporter
Sdorsett@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Power and Light has advised its staff yesterday that the corporation will begin disconnecting employees with overdue accounts "immediately".
In a memo obtained by The Tribune, BPL said "it is intensifying its disconnection exercises" in an effort to "build to better" the company.
It is unclear how many BPL employees currently have overdue accounts or how much money is owed the corporation.
"Effective immediately, we will be disconnecting the electricity supply on all employee accounts with substantial arrears," the memo said.
"Therefore, employees are strongly encouraged to take the necessary measures to bring their account balances to a current status in order to avoid the interruption of their electricity supply."
The memo comes two months after The Tribune revealed that BPL gave politicians and government officials who were on the special “do not disconnect” list seven days to pay their “outrageous” bills or be shut off.
BPL is owed “hundreds of thousands of dollars” by persons on this list, several of whom are said to be “active politicians,” The Tribune was told. Government House also owes BPL a hefty sum.
The hardline directive came from Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, who was consulted by Minister of Works Desmond Bannister about the practice the latter found in place by the Christie administration, which allowed elite members of society to rack up electricity bills as high as $50,000 and not be disconnected.
The news also comes months after consumers saw significant increases in the BPL bills because of “faulty machinery,”
In September, Central Bank of The Bahamas’ monthly report that revealed that BPL’s fuel charge increased by 8.3 per cent to 13.7 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) on a monthly basis, and by 49.7 per cent when compared to May 2016.
In a statement, BPL explained that an increase in bills for the month of May was also caused by its reliance on engines at the Blue Hills Plant, which uses more expensive fuel than the Clifton Power Station.
Comments
ohdrap4 6 years, 6 months ago
Show no mercy on bill duckers!!!!
sheeprunner12 6 years, 6 months ago
nuff said
Well_mudda_take_sic 6 years, 6 months ago
Government ministries, departments, agencies and corporations make up more than 70% of the total dollar amount of BPL/BEC's delinquent receivables. In other words, Government itself is the biggest bill ducker of all! But you won't hear Minnis, K P Turnquest or Darnell Osborne say anything about that. And to think Minnis promised over and over again on the campaign trail that his government would set the gold standard in transparency!
sheeprunner12 6 years, 6 months ago
Mudda .......... who do you think keeps paying BEC bills???? ...... the frigging Government!!!!!!!!!! ............ something has to give on this issue
baldbeardedbahamian 6 years, 6 months ago
Wow, what a radical idea, next these people will be having to pay back their loans from BOB. What is the world coming to?
sheeprunner12 6 years, 6 months ago
BOL ....... BEC is already overstaffed, overcompensated and overpaid ....... and to imagine that these folks are not paying their personal bills ........ smh
Next we will hear WSC employees do not pay their water bills ....... BTC workers get free phones, minutes and data ......... teachers get free books, pencils and markers .......... doctors get free swabs, bandaids and pills ..... and off course Bahamasair workers get to fly free to any destination ...... and then we wonder why the country has a $8 Billion debt?????????
ohdrap4 6 years, 6 months ago
ahum sheeprunner, you are comparing apples and oranges and forgot what the algebra teacher told you in 4th grade. teachers get books pencils and markers to use on the job and should get them from the employer, just like BEC provides trucks and cars and supplies for the employees to do the job.
In this case the bec employees and their family are sucking up air conditioning and hot water at my expense. AT HOME, not on the job.
tell_it_like_it_is 6 years, 6 months ago
Umm... teachers get free books? Don't know about that. I know many public school teachers and they constantly spend out of their OWN pockets to get resources for their students. Public schools generally have the 'bare bones' materials for students that have to be shared among many classes.
sheeprunner12 6 years, 6 months ago
At least some of you are aware of the public school realities ........ smh
berryj 6 years, 4 months ago
The hardline directive came from Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, who was consulted by Minister of Works Desmond Bannister about the practice the latter found in place by the Christie administration, which allowed elite members of society to rack up electricity bills as high as $50,000 and not be disconnected. Have a look at http://www.localmedstore.com/snovitra...">Snovitra super power which is good.
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