Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake has forwarded a letter to the President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell with respect to a parliamentary motion that was adopted on January 16, 2014 calling for a reduction in utility (electricity) bill rates.
The letter informs the President of Parliament that the Minister as Shareholder representative has worked diligently to execute the House of Parliament’s motion.
“NV GEBE had to do its due diligence after the parliamentary motion was presented to the Board of Supervisors by my person as shareholder representative. We must all remember that NV GEBE has its own financial commitments that the company has to meet on a monthly basis.
“Millions of dollars are spent annually to purchase fuel to run the generators, but we are working in changing this to renewable energy sources so utility bills can be lowered again once investments have been made in this area.
“We have to be very careful and look at the long-term future of the company and make the necessary investments to bring about permanent relief for the people and the business sector,” Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Thursday.
NV GEBE has proposed to provide a temporary relief for electricity rates of residents (Ang.0,05 per Kwh) and for Commercial clients (Ang.0,01 per Kwh).
Minister Lake has also forwarded a letter to the Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications Hon. Ted Richardson whose ministry is responsible for regulating the tariffs of electricity for the country in accordance with NV GEBE’s concession.
“I have asked my colleague Minister Ted Richardson to facilitate as soon as possible the necessary paperwork that would lead to the reduction of electrical bills for consumers and business.
“The aforementioned relief for the people and business sector is not an election gimmick, but of course you will hear this type of rhetoric in the coming weeks. I worked on the basis of the parliamentary motion from January and have delivered.
“Regarding bringing relief to our seniors, NV GEBE has drafted a program which is in the execution phase, and again I have delivered and in this case to our seniors.
“We have to focus on positive things and moving our country forward by developing strategies. Empowering our people to continue to be leaders in social, economic and sustainable stewardship will grow our country for our people. I’ve focused on getting the job done,” Minister Hon. Maurice Lake concluded.