Leslie Miller

TALL Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday commended Deputy Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis for seeking to forgive the debts of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) consumers, calling it a “noble” endeavour “that should have been done a long time ago”.

Mr. Miller, former Bahamas Electricity Corporation chairman, said the government ought to be “congratulated” for having a “social conscience” and doing the Bahamian people “a favour by writing off debt that you’re never going to collect”.

However, Mr. Miller said while Mr. Davis’ efforts are “courageous,” the endeavour is “nothing new,” as he claimed that he and the former BEC board were in the process of implementing a “special fund” to assist persons unable to pay their bills while he was still chairman of the corporation.

Mr. Miller’s comments came one day after Mr. Davis announced that the government is working on a series of operational agreements with BPL to write off many of the corporation’s delinquent accounts, potentially returning some 3,000 users back to the grid.

Mr. Davis, who has responsibility for BPL, told reporters outside the House of Assembly on Tuesday that he has already approached BPL with hopes of getting them to forgive the debts of consumers who have been unable to settle balances for prolonged periods of time.

He said he has been informed that some 3,000 persons have fallen into this classification, insisting officials now have to look at these clients on a case-by-case basis to determine how best to resolve each matter. He said he personally knows consumers who have outstanding balances well beyond $5,000.

Mr. Davis said the potential to forgive those outstanding balances remains just one aspect of ongoing discussions between the Christie administration and PowerSecure – BPL’s management company.

“What he’s doing is something that should have been done a long time ago,” Mr. Miller said when contacted yesterday. “And I’m happy and he should be congratulated for having that sort of social conscience that these things need to stop. The corporation is owned by the Bahamian people, so all you’re doing is really doing them a favour by writing off debt that you’re never going to collect.

“Every corporation should have a social conscience and BEC was devoid of a social conscience. So I’m glad that the minister is in fact implementing it. It’s the right thing to do, especially in these difficult times.”

Nonetheless, Mr. Miller claimed that he and the former board had plans to implement a similar plan before his controversial tenure at the corporation came to an end.

“We had the capability of doing whatever they’re doing ourselves,” he said. “In fact, all they’re doing is really implementing the plan that we were going to put in place. In other words Bahamians are capable of running (BPL) fully. There’s no need for no foreigners to be involved in (BPL). That’s my stance. And I speak on behalf of every board member. Because all that was accomplished in this country with BEC for the last four years was accomplished by us.

“The rates were down about 30 per cent, the lights was on all the time, and we had a programme to make it better. So all they doing is implementing what we were going to implement.”

He added: “We knew exactly what was needed. So this is nothing new except we have new faces and we have a foreign face. That’s the only difference between them and us.”

Last year Mr. Davis said after PowerSecure’s management deal was finalized, Bahamians could expect a 40 per cent reduction in electricity costs “immediately.”

During a signing of a five-year management services agreement for BPL in February, Prime Minister Perry Christie also said he was “hopeful that the signing would reduce the cost for electricity for consumers in a significant way.”

However, amidst two weeks of almost daily power outages as the corporation works to meet demand, some have charged that the new deal for the utility provider had resulted in no improvement in electrical services despite assurances by the government.

BEC was renamed BPL earlier this year.

By Nico Scavella, Tribune Staff Reporter

Click here to read more at The Tribune