The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) yesterday said it was working to ensure it has a “symbiotic” relationship with policymakers, each having a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

URCA has partnered with the Public Utilities Research Center (PURC) from the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business to conduct a series of regulatory briefings for senior ministers and MPs.

Stephen Bereaux, URCA’s chief executive, told Tribune Business: “URCA has been around since 2009 as a regulator of the electronic communications sector. We have had a very busy time over the years regulating that sector and introducing competition.

“Most recently, in 2016, we started as regulators of the energy sector. What we found is that regulation is a new issue for That Bahamas; that is, true independent regulation. For it to work well in a society as intertwined as this one, you have to have a clear understanding of the roles of the regulator, government and the operators, all of which should be a very symbiotic relationship, with everyone clear on what their roles are and what their responsibilities are and what they are not.”

He added: “We decided to bring in some very experienced people who have been teaching government policymakers and regulators for decades on these very issues to help us, together with some key stakeholders from within government, to discuss and internalise these issues.

“We want to ensure that URCA is effective, and that the Government and operators are all working optimally together to create the right framework and deliver the best quality for service.”

Shannon Cartwright, the St Barnabas MP described the forum as a “timely” one. “It gives us the opportunity to see the relationship between policy makers, URCA and how they work together in collaboration to try to produce the best type of utility we can for the people of The Bahamas, and how those relationships can make for a better process,” he added.