Garth Rattray
I EXPRESSED serious misgivings when Mirant acquired 80 per cent of the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPSCo) in March 2001. I felt that such an essential service should remain under our control. Be that as it may, we were given the distinct impression that Mirant (the Atlanta-based power giant) was financially strong enough to inject much-needed foreign capital into the run-down JPSCo in order to effect overdue repairs and/or replace antiquated and malfunctioning equipment. We were told to expect a dependable 21st century power supply in a fairly short time.
I wonder who brokered this so-called 'deal?' Mirant got too much and we got too little. They get guaranteed rate increases no matter how deplorable their performance. I'll wager that no one will take responsibility for that debacle. From all indications, Mirant is simply collecting revenue in the unrealistic expectation that it alone will be enough to put the JPSCo equipment in good working order. Mirant's financial woes (which came as no surprise to me) will negate any faint hopes that any of us may have had for an improvement in service within the next decade. We are going to continue suffering innumerable power outages, low-voltages and equipment-damaging spikes. We will continue to lose incalculable millions in revenue because of JPSCo's inefficient power supply. How can we compete globally under these conditions?
On the one hand, our leaders are encouraging us to invest in businesses instead of 'paper', to buy Jamaican, to produce more and import less. However, on the other hand, businesses are encumbered by a demanding and oppressively burdensome tax system, meteoric rises in operating costs, threatened by crime, beleaguered by a frustrated and apathetic workforce and shackled by an expensive yet totally undependable power supply company. This is the sort of situation that makes me wonder about politics. I don't hear any deafening and sustained protestations emanating from our elected officials over JPSCo's poor performance. I don't see any serious pressure being brought to bear on the company. Frequent unscheduled, scheduled, unannounced and announced power outages stymie businesses and therefore production. Power outages are more than mere pesky inconveniences; they are stifling our economy. Power cuts impact negatively on our progress as a nation. It's obvious to me that our people are being treated with scant regard and disrespected by this international company. They could never perform so shabbily in the USA where they are based.
Power outages (although sometimes brief) are with us continuously; they only make the news when they become rampant or prolonged. Many businesses and medical centres must turn away customers, clients, patients whenever there is a power outage. We all depend heavily on air-conditioners, PBX business telephone systems, security doors, lights within enclosed offices and various pieces of equipment for investigations, therapies, amenities and production. During power cuts many factories must cease production. Many small poultry farmers lose birds (due to overheating) and many small producers that depend on refrigeration lose untold revenue.
TREATED AS LUXURIES
Power outages and low voltages plague us continuously, yet generators are still treated as luxuries when in fact they have become essential pieces of equipment. The government should make all back-up power-supply units tax-free. Since computers are once again tax-exempt (for now), generators must also be considered an essential part of our business, medical establishments, production enterprises and lives in general. Without them we will be helpless and at the mercy of our monopolistic power behemoth.
Consumers pay compounded taxes when purchasing generators from dealers or retailers.
If you have a business and import a medium-sized diesel unit yourself (in order to save money), it immediately attracts 18.8 per cent GCT on arrival. Then come custom duties, brokerage fees (with more GCT - again), GCT for every truck and forklift, and on every item needed to install the unit plus GCT on the labour to set up the equipment. Your tax bill alone will account for about 40 per cent of the cost of acquiring the unit! Certainly, the people of Jamaica deserve some concession from a government that cannot provide dependable electricity yet professes to be serious about production and growth.
Garth Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
