The Tribune

Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) executives heard the concerns of Bahamian consumers at its recent New Providence town hall meeting.

Stephen Bereaux, its chief executive, said: “What we want to hear from you is what you think are the areas of great concern that we should be exercising our regulatory jurisdiction in. We’re not here to make decisions; we can’t make decisions in this forum. Our purpose really is to find out what are the priorities you feel we should be working on.”

Also attending his first public consultation was veteran broadcaster Carlton Smith, now URCA’s director of electronic communications, who noted the impact of technology and its advances in the country and globally.

Touching on URCA’s regulation of the electronic communications sector (ECS), Mr Smith reminded attendees that the rules, laws and policies are executed for the benefit of consumers and the role it plays in improving the quality of life.

Highlighting the various projects URCA is embarking on this year, Mr Smith said: “We are reviewing the wholesale Internet access, mobile services and the interconnection rates.

“But there are some things we want to discuss today. One has to do with disaster preparedness and management, and how we are embarking on an initiative to put regulations in place to address the use of ICTs and effective managements of ICTs in times of disaster.”

Mr Smith explained how information and communications technology (ICT) allows agencies such as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to alert the general public of pending disasters, as well as assist in the co-ordination of rescue and recovery efforts during and after a storm.

Shevonn Cambridge, URCA’s director of utilities and energy, said: “My job is to optimise the energy sector in terms of service, access to that service and affordability of that service.” He also revealed details for the ‘URCA Goes Green’ project, an initiative meant to encourage environmentally conscious behavior.

“The URCA Goes Green initiative is two-fold,” Mr Cambridge said. “It is our own in-house efforts to try and lead by example, and through that we have a number of projects on stream. We are looking at putting in some solar ray in our car parks, as well as looking at doing some things with our fleet in terms of going to electric vehicles.”