Walwyn weighs in on BVIEC fuel surcharge debate
Former legislator Myron Walwyn has offered his take on the debate surrounding the government-owned BVI Electricity Corporation’s (BVIEC) high electricity cost and its troublesome fuel surcharge.
According to Walwyn, the issue of the fuel variation surcharge element contained in the BVIEC’s bills is one that needs immediate attention by the government.
“As a matter of fact,” Walwyn said in a Facebook post yesterday, “a proper plan to address and monitor this issue that we knew would have been a problem should have been in place a long time ago.”
The former legislator felt that it would have been a much better use of government revenue if the Customs duty breaks that were given on food, luxury items and other things months ago were instead directed to the fuel variation charge on the electrical bills. “It would have been a much greater help to businesses and to households if this was done,” Walwyn said.
He added: “I am not sure if anyone felt the reduction in food costs by those duty breaks. As a matter of fact, the food prices seemed to have gone higher during the period and the government by their own admission had no mechanism in place to monitor the concessions given.”
Meanwhile, Walwyn also argued that it might be wise for the government to look at what other countries have done to alleviate some of the burdens on businesses and households.
He pointed out that the Nevisian government recently agreed to give a monthly subvention to their electricity corporation so that their fuel variation charge could be capped at an agreed amount for businesses and households and suggested that this is a common sense approach that the BVI could adopt.
Walwyn also reminded people that many businesses are still dealing with the side effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If this fuel variation issue is left unabated it will drastically affect the local economy,” Walwyn posited.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley recently announced plans to provide relief for residential customers of the BVIEC but did not offer any details of how this relief will be implemented nor did it state whether commercial customers would be in line for a reprieve at a later time.
“A lot of the problems in this country could be addressed if our leaders could just humble themselves and seek advice from people who have knowledge on the subject matters or at least have the good common sense to see how other countries handled the very same issues,” Walwyn stated in his post.
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I agree 100% with what you are saying. The food prices went up to me instead of going down during the duty exemption. It would have been more helpful if the government money was put towards the fuel variation charge on the bills for households and businesses.
This is sense. There is no plan for anything. This is what this government is about. No kind of planning whatsoever. The Premier is only now talking about bringing relief for households when we have been struggling to pay electrical bills for nearly a year now. Other countries like Barbados came up with their relief package months ago.
Thank you for speaking out on these things Myron. Something need to be done. All we get is promises promises from our Premier. I am sure he has lost count of the all the promises he made since being in that position.
I cannot argue with this at all.
Bla bla bla bla bla
Everything needs attention by government. Only now he paying attention to the problems of this territory but before he was paying attention to his pocket. Now he here like a parrot ?.
You was there for 8 years and you ain’t do one god dam thing. like you paying this news site to make your FB post a headline ever time.
He’s not getting my vote
Waste a time!
What I pay for fuel variation charge is almost as high as what I pay for the actual electricity cost. We need some relief fast.
He is only here trying to rack up political mileage but he is dead in the water.
Myron you are on point with this one. The country will pay dearly for that reduction in rate for duty. Statistics will show that the number of cars imported in the last 6 months equates the number that would usually come during a 3 year period. (And the “unheard of” statistics department can’t even prove me wrong). We will pay dearly for congestion, parking and traffic in Road Town. That reprieve should have gone to electricity for the reduction of bills….. and while we are on it …those farmers and fishers checks should have gone to electricity bills for everyone. We should have all gotten a 70% reduction in bills during that COVID period. All would have benefitted and not just the chosen few. May the good Lord help us in this country.
One has to eat. One does not need to heat the pool, watch TV or run the air conditioning. Current prices are forcing people to think about conserving. Why use scarce government funds so people can air condition their villas more cheaply.
Focus on education and conservation. Do people even know how to read an energy tag? A better move might have been to eliminate duty on EnergyStar appliances. Many people look for the cheapest appliance, without considering the cost over time of running less efficient ones.
Most staple food items were already at 5% or no customs duties. That is why there was no reduction in the food prices. So who really benefited from the reduction in customs duties.
This will tackle the reality on the ground…Caz I am so confuse as to why the govt is not in touch with reality on what’s going on…They act like they kno what the normal ppl is going thru but Dey actions speak differently
is the largest single user of electricity in the BVI. All these excessive bill complaints seem to be from private citizens and businesses while the government is silent about their electric bills. Seems odd? Perhaps the BVIEC could release to the public the BVI government’s current outstanding electric bills with the fuel surcharge!
Myron is spot on. Thoughtful leadership is needed in this country.
He will be getting mine again because we need more competent people in the government
While this individual has been weighing in on some pretty hefty issues in recent times and what is being shared makes sense, it is unfortunate that they committed political suicide with that unwise action some years back.
I wonder if they ever stopped to ponder whether selecting threescore tradespersons and their teams to construct a barrier was an ethical and moral action. Nevertheless, the efforts being made to rise up from the self-inflicted wounds are commendable.
Sounds like a lot of bluster…if you want to lead what’s your observation and plan
You are SO right!!! The government is the biggest consumer yet they do NOT pay their electricity bill. Maybe BVIEC should think about cutting them like they cut the rest of us for being a month overdue. The government must be years overdue. CUT THEM!!!! MAKE THEM PAY!!!! Instead of allowing them to WASTE money on nonsense instead of putting it to good use – LIKE SCHOOLS!!!!!!!!!!
The usual bull from f* man to be relevant boy we waiting on you next election you not going to make it so give it up
most food import duties fall at 5% or under so you won’t see savings there…hence the food pricing not fluctuating
What we are paying dearly for and what is the death knell of the BVI is the massive importation and installation of poverty along with its accompanying cousin, crime.
The cost of energy now means that it is cheaper to disconnect from the grid and generate your own electricity with solar and generator!! How is this OK