Needs Must Power Station
Photo By Erasmus Williams
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
October 13, 2012
People’s Action Movement
At a time when our economy is shrinking, and the average Kittitian cannot afford to pay every bill each month, the St. Kitts Electricity Company Ltd. (SKELEC), a company wholly owned and operated by the Government, has made the bizarre decision to increase the cost of electricity by passing on the Customs Service Charge (CSC), a further government charge, to its consumers.
The uncaring Denzil Douglas Government has chosen to hide behind the flimsy curtain of a statutory corporation to, once again, add to the burden of living in St. Kitts. As if this ridiculous and unnecessary rise in the cost of electricity is not bad enough, they have compounded the insult by announcing that it shall take effect retroactively, thus robbing the average person of an opportunity to adjust their consumption to compensate for the increases.
The attitude of the Denzil Douglas Labour Government towards the people of St. Kitts has been totally uncaring at the best of times, but lately they have instituted an unprecedented assault on the poor and vulnerable in our society. This latest and to date, most egregious onslaught will have a deleterious effect across the entire country.
This unconscionable increase in electricity bills will affect our already fragile business sector, as inevitably the cost of producing goods and services increase. It will overwhelm the average householder who is struggling to make ends meet daily; and it will escalate the devastation being wrecked on the poor and the elderly who already cannot afford to pay their electricity bills even before the hike.
The decision to corporatize the electric company last year at the most inopportune time was bad enough, but to now suddenly impose this unconscionable increase with no warning is downright unethical. It is time for the Denzil Douglas Government to go! Enough is Enough!