Prime Minister Hon. Ralph Gonsalves has been on a quest for quite some time to bring electricity to the homes of those that lack access to this basic necessity. The Prime Minister has however expressed displeasure at how VINLEC has gone about things during this process by asking these less fortunate individuals to pay two a month deposit.
“A woman contacted me and said we got the help in getting the electricity back, but when they go, VINLEC said to them, they have to give two months deposit. You know there is a section of the law, Section 13 of the Electricity Supply Act, there is something that says they may charge a deposit, amounting to two months at the maximum of what is owned on an ongoing basis, but I don’t understand how they interpret that law, I told them that.”
Dr. Gonsalves went on to question the basis on which the amount for the deposit is determined.
“I told them they can’t do it, today I’m formalizing a decision in cabinet, in fact, I’m even thinking of going to parliament and simply repealing the section, taking away the discretion from them.”
The Prime Minister first made appeal to the public to reach out him if they or someone they knew did not have access to electricity in their homes and required his assistance and acquiring it on WEFM’s “Wake Up” morning program back on 15th May, 2020.
