COMMENTARY: BY OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 1, 2020 – At first when I saw the lead paragraph of a story and a photo in The Tribune of the long lines at Bahamas Power and Light on Wednesday morning as residents “flocked to the utility provider to pay their bills and avoid disconnection,” I thought that it had to be a cruel April Fool’s Day joke.
Apparently it was not. As The Tribune noted in its follow-up paragraph, “There was reportedly a similar scene yesterday. Although many tried to keep their distance from others, they did not appear to be the recommended six feet apart to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Some wore face masks.”
The Tribune’s article added, “BPL had initially halted disconnections until March 31 in light of the pandemic and economic crisis. However, the government-owned utility has announced that disconnections would resume today.”
Although Minister of Works Desmond Bannister has responsibility under his portfolio for Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), a decision of this magnitude must have had Cabinet approval, so Bannister alone should not be excoriated for this woefully bad decision, which should be instantly reversed. Indeed, the entire Cabinet should be condemned and taken to proverbial woodshed and tarred and feathered.
How cold and heartless can they collectively be? As Opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said in a statement, the decision could not come at a worst time when “massive increases in job losses and applications for social assistance and unemployment benefits are with us,” according to The Tribune.
What’s more, coming as it did when there is widespread consensus that Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis deserves high marks for his quick response to the potentially devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on The Bahamas, this decision makes absolutely no sense. To be sure, the fact that the Prime Minister quickly introduced an Emergency Order imposing a 24-hour curfew in the country when the COVID-19 threat to The Bahamas became clear was indeed a decision worthy of praise; so too, was his decision to subsequently order the closure of Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau to all flights as of Friday, March 27, as well as the closure of all airports throughout the country, effective that same date,
Obviously, because of these decisions and the impact of COVID-19 generally, the economy of The Bahamas, with tourism being its main lifeline, has taken a battering and will continue to be in a serious “danger zone” for the foreseeable future — that is, until COVID-19 is history and the travel and tourism industries return to normal. This reality may have been a contributing factor to the bad decision that was made with the announcement that BPL was about to start disconnections because of unpaid power bills.
Be that as it may, the government must find another way to fight the economic war that COVID-19 has precipitated, rather than exacerbate the hardships that some Bahamians who are struggling to survive are now experiencing. True, some of BPL’s delinquent customers may be able to afford to pay what they owe the utility company by making adjustments to their lifestyles, but there are many families whose “breadwinners” have been unemployed for a while and some who have recently lost their jobs because of COVID-19.
It seemed as if Works Minister Bannister was prepared to follow the approach used by his fellow governmental colleague Adrian Gibson, Executive Chairman of Water & Sewerage Corporation, regarding delinquent customers after the impact of COVID-19 loomed as possibly becoming a reality in The Bahamas.
According to an article in The Tribune on March 17, 2020, Bannister confirmed “that the government-appointed board will consider whether it can follow in the Water & Sewerage Corporation’s foot-steps by suspending all delinquent customer disconnections to ease the economic fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic.”
Bannister was quoted as saying, relative to the Board meeting scheduled for that day: “BPL is going to consider what they can do in the circumstances. One of the challenges is that BPL is a broke company. It carries receivables of $100m a month. It’s a little different from the Water & Sewerage Corporation. Even though the Water & Sewerage Corporation operates at a loss, BPL is in a vastly different situation. They’re [the Board] going to look and see what is the best they can do. The board will meet tomorrow [today] and make some considerations as to how they can balance the challenges. They’re going to consider it ‘suspending disconnections’.”
According to The Tribune’s article, Gibson had “announced via social media late last week that all planned disconnections” of Water and Sewerge “delinquent customers cease with immediate effect.”
Quoting from the announcement on social media, the article stated: “Given the impact of the coronavirus on the world, and the importance of potable water in combating this disease, it is of the utmost importance that residents have access to fresh water. Our people should not, and ought not, to be without water. As such, executive chairman Adrian Gibson has directed the immediate cessation of any and all intended or proposed disconnection exercises. No Water & Sewerage Corporation staff are authorised to disconnect any home/building at this time. All disconnections are halted until further notice.”
Of course, as Bannister noted, Water & Sewerage “operates at a loss” and “BPL is a vastly different situation.” Nonetheless, seeing that long line of Bahamians defying the Prime Minister’s 24-hour curfew to queue up outside BPL to pay their delinquent bills raised the question — at least in my mind – as to whether having these persons risk the possibility being exposed to COVID-19 was what the government had in mind when it announced March 31 as the deadline to pay delinquent bills before beginning disconnections. It would seem to me that there must have been a better way for the government to get its point across to these delinquent BPL customers.
Obviously, someone in the government realized that they had made a drastic mistake. In a 12:50 p.m. update to its story on Wednesday, The Tribune noted: “Minister of Works Desmond Bannister has advised Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) to cease disconnections. However, BPL CEO Whitney Heastie has said, while the disconnections will stop, people who can pay their bills should do so and contact BPL by phone for options.”
