Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw has appealed to the Barbados Light and Power Company to be more lenient with delinquent subscribers where there are children in those households who are dependent on electricity for study.
Speaking in the House of Assembly today, Bradshaw said turning off electricity for non-payment of bills is having a direct impact on the Ministry of Education, since there were children in affected households who “then cannot access electricity”.
“I will not support anybody being able to earn a living and not pay their bills, but I am simply saying that we are in a very difficult environment right now, many people are still not working. I don’t think that we are in an environment where if people could pay they would refuse to pay, but there are genuine cases coming to the fore that we are well aware of, where I do feel that there needs to be a little bit more leniency being exercised by the entity responsible for light in this country,” Bradshaw said.
The St Michael East MP was speaking on the Control of Inefficiency Lighting Bill 2021, which provides for the phasing out of the sale and use of incandescent electricity bulbs within time frames set out in the legislation. (GC)
