BEC Executive Chairman Leslie Miller
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Electricity Corporation Executive Chairman Leslie Miller said the government has not consulted or included him and members of BEC’s board on its transition team that is preparing the corporation for new management with the American company PowerSecure.
Mr Miller said BEC’s union and management teams have been privy to discussions about the corporation’s future and have told him that the Christie administration intends to form a new board for the corporation.
He could not confirm this for himself, he said, adding that he is still the chairman of BEC and will remain so until he is officially removed from his position.
“I trust they would notify us before or if they pick a new board,” he said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished while we were here. I think we were able to educate Bahamians that the corporation is for Bahamian people and is not owned by the union. The greatest thing I think we did was to stop the double dipping in the entire public service.”
Pressed for details about his future and that of the board, he said: “It’s not my call. Whenever the prime minister sees fit to dissolve the board and put in a new one, then our time will be up, but we have not been (given) official notice that our time is up. They appointed us by giving us letters and I would expect that if they no longer require our service they would similarly inform us and have the courtesy to notify us before going public with the information. I can’t hurt my head over things I have no power over. I have zero influence and zero power. This board probably did more than any other in the history of BEC. For instance, some bad things were going on with overtime and we changed it.”
Mr Miller said if he were removed as executive chairman of BEC, he would be disappointed about not being able to help poor people who often call him for help.
“My biggest regret is that the poor people, the hundreds who call every week to keep their lights on, may then have no one to turn to,” he said. “That’s my biggest regret. That would personally make me feel bad about the whole situation, because I could no longer work on their behalf.”
Mr Miller also spoke about the power cuts that took place Saturday around the island.
“We had problems with (engines) at Clifton,” he said. “We still have some problems at Blue Hills that we haven’t resolved yet. There may be intermittent problems (in terms of power cuts) down the line but hopefully we will solve them this week.”
During his tenure as chairman, Mr Miller has been involved in a series of controversial incidents, including public spats with BEC’s union leaders, and the revelation that he and his family owned business owed BEC more than $100,000.
Union leaders have repeatedly called for him to be fired.
Comments
duppyVAT 9 years, 7 months ago
Potcake get the memo ................... Brave has "fired" you and your toothless Board in favour of Power Secure
christee 9 years, 7 months ago
I wonder which yardstick he used to conclude that "this board probably did more than any other in the history of BEC"? Given the fact that he owed BEC so much money, he never should have been made chairman in the first place. But this kind of thing is typical of this Prime Minister. Accountability and ethich in government means nothing to him.
John 9 years, 7 months ago
In Ghana the power goes off 24 hours for every 12 hours it is on. The government of that country is trying to assist every household with getting a solar system with enough capacity to run a refrigerator and at least four light bulbs. The government's intention is not only to eliminate spoiled meat and the use of kerosene oil and candles during blackouts, but also to reduce the load and total dependence on the electricity grid and thereby reduce the country's need to import more expensive fuels. Many Bahamian households and businesses that operate during daylight hours can run up to 80 percent on solar energy, air conditioning included. It would be interesting to see what plan the new BEC board/management team puts in place to restructure this country's energy grid and decrease the country's appetite for fossil fuels..
Tarzan 9 years, 7 months ago
Right now BEC is forcing people on N.P. island (with the notable exception of our P.M.) who have installed at their own expense serious solar generation capacity to shut their solar down, under threat of a cutoff of all BEC service during nighttime. This policy because BEC cannot survive without the few paying customers it has, among whom are those who can afford significant solar arrays. Good luck on your suggestion that BEC will support a move to solar on N.P. Island.
TheMadHatter 9 years, 7 months ago
Where / when is this threat ??????????? I am not doubting you - but can you please enlighten us? I'm a pretty good follower of news and policies and have not hear about this.
Please give a source or something - I would like to learn more about it. Thanks.
Well_mudda_take_sic 9 years, 7 months ago
Lady Smacker Miller has effectively stolen millions of dollars from the Bahamian people through loans and overdrafts he received from the Bank of The Bahamas (BOB) that he will never repay. The Bahamian people have yet to be told whether BOB wrote-off these loans and overdrafts or transferred them to Bahamas Resolve. Many of us also would like to know whether intermediary companies owned by "favoured" Bahamians were involved in any way with BEC's rental and or purchase of generators.
duppyVAT 9 years, 7 months ago
Did he pay his $200,000 BEC bill yet????????????
TheMadHatter 9 years, 7 months ago
If I were him, being snubbed like that, I would just take a 2 week (or longer) vacation to Ft. Lauderdale and chill in a hotel, go to the movie theatre, the mall, whatever. Let the rest of them deal with it on their own.
Romrok 9 years, 7 months ago
this whole deal is a joke. Its so the government can secure votes after the fact because now its a foreign company that is causing the problems with BEC. Everyone knows Power Secure has to run it like the government did - not firing people for crap work and such - or they wouldn't have the job.
One day these dumb fools will realize we need bec to turn a profit so it has capital to repair and improve... but these are lawyers running government, they only know howto steal from poor people1
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