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Finally, there are some answers, but they are not inspiring. The San Pedro Sun learned upon contacting the Public
Utilities Commission (PUC) and the Director of Telecommunications this week,
that in essence, until this monopoly ends with Belize Telecommunications
Limited, there is almost nothing, short of a lawsuit backed up by substantial
evidence, than anyone can do to dispute the non-action and lack of basic service
of this utility. Chairman of the PUC, Gilly Canton,
explained that the PUC was only legislated in 1999 and "setting up office" at
the tail end of the privatization of Belize Electricity Limited. "We are still
working on reinforcing our technical capacity," he replied when asked about
their role in defense of the private consumer. He continued that, essentially
they are compiling competent people with some background in economics,
engineering and law to better enable the PUC to deal with setting rates and
establishing standards for quality of service. He further explained that time
frames for the commissioner's lengths of appointments are staggered. This is to
ensure that the commission stays strong and there are not several people missing
at any one time when appointments expire. Six of the seven
commission appointments have been made by the governor general and approved by
the prime minister and the leader of the opposition party. They are Mary
Martinez, Ilona Smiling, Santiago Mendosa, Harry Nobly and Al Chanona led by the
Chairman Gilly Canton. The commission has so far been involved in the
legislative processes of both the Electricity Act and the new Water Industry
Bill that just recently passed the House. In response to
problems associated with Belize Telecommunications Limited (BTL) it was learned
that this monopoly's license is very, very exclusive and is difficult to
challenge. (This statement was backed up by the Director of Telecommunications.)
The PUC chairman informed that only when the monopoly on
telecommunications ends,
will the PUC have a chance to change this legislation. The Telecommunications
Act was established before the PUC, subsequently this act will need to be
amended before they (or consumers) have any control or say in matters on this
subject. Regarding BEL, the chairman replied
that rates are the PUC's number one challenge, especially with the rising cost
of fuel prices worldwide. With reference to the Chalillo Dam, he explained that
their commission's responsibility would be to ensure that rates do not go any
higher because of this dam. He explained that Mexico's prices for electricity
continue to rise and therefore they are investigating all alternative sources of
power generation as well. The PUC is directly involved in
the economic regulation of the new Water Utility Bill which was recently passed
by the House. This controversial bill awaits acceptance of the Senate before
being enacted and is being disputed by several organizations. In reference to
the privatization of this utility, the chairman explained that whoever the
purchaser is will only be involved with areas of service, the same as with the
Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) currently in control. He further informed
that resource management would still lie in the hands of the Government of
Belize. While hearing the government would continue to maintain control of this
natural resource is in one way comforting but it should be mentioned that as in
almost all pieces of legislation, "Minister's discretion" is a clause, which in
reality, makes any legislation a guideline instead of absolute
law. The PUC chairman stated that an office with personnel to
receive complaints and concerns is being established and should be ready by
March. In the meantime, anyone having concerns or questions for the PUC may
e-mail [email protected].
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