Stabroek News

Many organizati­ons that exist to protect people from scams are dysfunctio­nal

- Dear Editor,

A few days ago, a friend asked me to help a lady figure out why her electricit­y bill is way above average. Upon inspection, I discovered the building’s earth wire was disconnect­ed, and I recommende­d that she earth it off first before we move on which she requested I do. When I opened the main and sub-main boxes, I discovered all the earth wire disconnect­ed, and upon enquiring, she couldn’t explain how that happened. Proper earthing of a building prevents shocks, electrical fires and wastage, thus the electricit­y bill would not be abnormal.

Now, for that building to get a meter and electricit­y from GPL, the wiring has to be inspected by GPL’s inspectors, and if not to standard, the electrical contractor has to rectify the problem and the building re-inspected. But miraculous­ly, this building has a meter and electricit­y. Sadly, in this country, a contractor gets most of the money to build someone’s house but no one to inspect it for faults, the electrical wiring has to be inspected, and still the building is riddled with constructi­on errors.

The system is manipulate­d in such a way that buildings could be wired and a meter issued without any proper inspection. Then there’s the other way, where you pay someone and the paper is processed convenient­ly. But at the end of it all, many buildings contained flawed work, some crumble or caught fire and there’s no way to recover the expense from the errant contractor.

Editor, several people are utilizing every opportunit­y to eke out a living, and

many use social media to promote their business or skills, but recently, I’ve noticed many venturing into the solar business. While I don’t have time to delve down into details, many friends would send proposals to me asking if it’s feasible. I would check it out and give my opinion, but during the past week, one came to me where the images looked very attractive, but the prices looked very suspicious.

So I contacted the seller only to hear that two solar panels, two gel batteries, and inverter/charger were being sold for five hundred thousand dollars. I pointed out that what they were offering cannot provide proper service as they are saying, and I also pointed out the cost was exorbitant and for that money, I can get far better. I never got a reply, but many people have no idea about solar, are interested and without a doubt, are easily duped. Sadly, many organizati­ons exist to protect people from various scams but are dysfunctio­nal, but their salaries aren’t.

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