Advertisement
Monopolies are never a guarantee of quality. This is very clear to citizens of our country who depend on one company, NV GEBE, for the delivery of water and electricity.
Their inevitable dissatisfaction with the way they are treated spilled onto the streets recently when hundreds of disgruntled — and rightly so — GEBE clients marched in protest to the main office of the utilities company.
A letter given to GEBE management on behalf of consumer protection agency ACP describes in great detail everything that is wrong with the current situation.
Consumers receive bills that are incorrect. Disputing them does not work, and GEBE disconnects them if they do not pay. Another serious grievance is the retroactive implementation of a 25 percent increase in the fuel clause. If you don’t pay: boom, no more electricity.
No wonder many citizens feel as if they have been propelled into a world without rhyme or reason. GEBE, in the meantime, and according to an ACP estimate, has overcharged its clients by almost $7 million.
Consumers want their money back and, most of all, they want to be reconnected to the grid. For some citizens, electricity is a matter of life and death. Think about patients who are still at home but who depend for their well-being on electrical medical equipment.
The question is, of course: who is to blame for this toe-curling situation? Is it just GEBE? Does our government also have a role to play?
GEBE has been a political football for decades, but now things have really come to a critical junction. Who is going to step up to the plate to solve all these issues?
That people have had enough is not even an understatement. It is much worse: they have had more than enough, and they demand action now.
I cannot give an estimate of GEBE’s financial position, so I do not know whether the company is even able to repay the almost $7 million it basically owes to its customers. That should not be that much of a problem because GEBE is a government-owned company, and this makes our government liable as well.
Sigh. I feel for the people who have been screwed, one way or the other, by GEBE, because I fail to see — and I wish I were wrong — how our utilities company or our government is going to give all that money back to the people.
Sure, they are entitled to it, but will they ever see a penny? There will probably be some lame explanation about the calculation of the fuel clause, most likely with a reference to the law, and that will be it. It is one way of saying to GEBE customers: See? You were wrong, and we do not have to do anything.
But if that were to happen, I doubt very much that it would be the end of this absurd story. In the end, the ACP could opt for a peaceful solution and take its grievances to court. But what if judges rule that GEBE, or the government, has to pay what is due to GEBE customers, and the defendants still do not pony up?
I am not calling for a revolution, because I disapprove of violence, but you never can tell how far people are prepared to take this.
So here is a piece of advice for both GEBE and its owner, our government: think twice before you refuse to do anything. The time for hiding behind laws and regulations is over and — let’s not forget this — you are both there to serve the people.
Related:
Gebe may have overcharged its clients for millions of dollars
###
ADVERTISEMENT
