Opposition Leader Gaston Browne has given a firm promise that his party will institute debt forgiveness for Electricity and Water for persons owing and presumably disconnected up to December 31, 2013. Of course there are pros and cons to such an initiative which for the record was done previously under ALP in 1976. Con - negatively impact APUAs cash flow - technically the funds are not coming in, but with the debt forgiveness and reconnection there is scope for additional, otherwise forgone revenue to flow to the statutory body. Con - too wide a coverage (all persons). - I assume that MP Browne meant individual households. Therefore is it highly unlikely that persons who can afford to reconnect would have remained without either basic service for an extended period of 6 plus months. Thus the persons who will benefit will likely be those who are in seriously difficult circumstances. Pro - an extension of the government fulfilling its social responsibility to its citizens. Pro - increasing the cash flow of the statutory corporation. Pro - forgiveness means writing off APUAs books hence improving the overall bottom line of the countrys financials. My verdict - Socially - good move; Public Policy - good move; Benefit to APUA - positive strategic intent. Limitations of analysis - would have loved an idea of how many accounts are likely to be affected and the amount of the write off. Would love to see/hear the rest of the plan to deal with the mess that APUA has become, especially for PCS and Imobile
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 18:43:44 +0000
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