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DLP leader says amendment will remove rights; Energy Minister defends it

by Emmanuel Joseph
3 min read
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Minister of Energy Kerrie Symmonds has defended Government’s decision to amend the Electric Light & Power Act amid a warning by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) that the change will eliminate some consumer rights.

President of the DLP Dr Ronnie Yearwood said on Monday that the proposed amendment scheduled to be debated in Parliament on Tuesday will remove some of the public’s rights to object to the award of electricity licences for big power systems and to make representation to the Minister about the terms and conditions contained in electricity licences.

“The amendment will severely limit the right of all Barbadian voters, consumers and businesses from objecting to, or expressing their concerns about any application for a licence to supply electricity in Barbados, whether it is Barbados Light and Power or any other company that wants to generate electricity in Barbados,” Dr Yearwood stated.

He quoted from the existing Electric Light and Power Act that gives the opportunity for “all interested parties” to make representation to the Minister, and noted that under Section 5 of the amendment, that is being replaced with an instruction that any “interested party” will first have to justify why they are interested in objecting.

“Isn’t being a consumer good enough anymore to raise your concern over the suppliers of electricity that will ultimately affect the cost of your electricity? This [amendment] will adversely affect all of us. Also, a committee has to determine if a person has merit to be an interested party. But there is no review process for the decision of the committee if a person who wants to be an interested party is turned down by the committee. Can Government publish the list of names of persons on this committee to notify Barbadians of its composition?” Dr. Yearwood queried.   

Dr Ronnie Yearwood

“The most unjust and unpalatable part of the amendment is Section 6 which says: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Section entitles an interested party to have access to the application of any applicant for a licence’.

“How can an interested party make representation about a licence application without any information about the application, the applicant and the activity to be licensed? This provision makes a nonsense of a process that is intended to add rigour and transparency to our Goverment’s licensing of large electricity generation systems over 1 megawatt,” the DLP leader argued.

“We just had a simple stand-by-itself piece of legislation which said that parties that were interested could object to the grant of a licence. But the issue of how that objection was conducted, whether it was done by hearing, how you approach the Ministry for the objection, etcetera, was never properly amplified,” the Energy Minister said. “We now seek to do so in the interest of transparency and fairness in the process.”

“All that the legislation is seeking to do is to ensure that people with a relevant interest can participate in the process,” Symmonds insisted.  

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

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