The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has just concluded a public education programme across Berbice, targeting the customers of the various utility companies. Complaints Manager,Cheap Stitched Jerseys, Raymon Cummings, said that he was heartened at the response of Berbicians to the two-day activity which included meetings with school children, the Regional officials, Chamber of Commerce officials, New Amsterdam Technical Institute (NATI) and the general public.Several concerns and complaints were raised during the outreach and these would be dealt with expeditiously, Cummings said. He noted that the team, which comprised himself and three other officers from the PUC, was indeed surprised that not many Berbicians knew that their utility company matters and complaints could have been channeled through the PUC.“If there’s a fault in the area, and they fail to respond to the fault report, there is a monetary penalty. If it is a business area they have 24 hours to respond. If it is a residential area, they have 36 hours to respond,Wholesale Jerseys Authentic,” he noted.“If they do not respond within the time frame, the customers would have to be compensated. People might not know and therefore, they sit down and nothing happens and GPL comes five days later…and they don’t benefit from anything,” he noted.“We want people to know about us and the service we offer,” he said. He referred to the changes to the legislation which deal with the failure of the utility companies to connect new services within 14 days of payment.L to R: Mark Gobin, Orin Edghill,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Eslyn Herbert and PUC Complaints Manager, Raymon CummingsIf they fail to do so, the utility company is mandated by law to “pay a fine, credit the consumer’s account to the value of $5,000, and if they disconnect customers wrongfully, customers can benefit up to $20,000.”Cummings said that the PUC has found that some utility companies “are breaching the regulations,Air Max 98 Gundam For Sale, but because people don’t know they can benefit; they are not telling the PUC.”Orin Edghill, Accountant of the PUC, stated that many Berbicians were surprised that they could pursue certain grievances and complaints with such a body. “Most of them were surprised.”The team discovered that the general public usually lodges such complaints with the Region Six Administration,Air Max Zero Be True, who would in turn meet with the utility companies every Thursday.The team also met with the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce. “They seem to be the shakers of things in the region and because they are the business people, people would normally vent their problems to them,” Cummings noted.He noted that numerous large companies in Berbice raised complaints with the PUC “and basically did not know where to go with it.”He reminded the public that the PUC is a constitutional body with “the authority to issue orders and to have the Utility Company Act based on those orders”. The PUC, he said, collects information from the customers and instructs the utility companies how to act, based on the law. “If these companies fail to fulfill the licenses and agreements, there are penalties.”Power fluctuations throughout the region, the quality of water being received by residents as well as the customer service of the Guyana Water Incorporated seemed to have been the major issues dealt with by the team with Berbicians. “We are going to deal with those issues. Once we receive a complaint, we are bounded by law to lodge the complaint with the utility company which they have a certain time to answer to us and then we will contact the complainant, and then we will make a decision”, Cummings posited. He said that while some were coming forward with complaints, others seemed reluctant for fear of being victimized.The PUC,Nike Air Max 1 Mens Trainers, he noted, has “refunded some $7 million to consumers as a result of overbilling or being treated unfairly.”“If people don’t come to us, they cannot be compensated.” He reminded Berbicians that the services offered by the PUC are free.” They don’t have to come down to Georgetown. There are telephone numbers, emails, fax numbers and we can help”.