That blistering charge was delivered by Leslie Miller, minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, who is the former Minister of Trade and Industry. He says BEC should absorb losses occasionally to give ordinary Bahamians a break.
“And Iﾒm demanding that they do so. Let them take some losses!” he told the Bahama Journal.
Mr. Miller also suggested that the government owned corporation should give rebates to overcharged Bahamians.
“When times are tough, each one of us in society should bear some of the burden that is placed upon us. I do not believe that BEC should simply pass that burden on to the people of The Bahamas. Therefore itﾒs profiteering,” Mr. Miller charged.
“In other words, they are making the same profit margin as they normally make on the backs of the Bahamian people. That, to me, is profiteering and unjust.”
Mr. Miller demanded that BEC disclose the formula for calculating the fuel surcharge, and explain it to the public.
Increases in the fuel surcharge have been sharp over the last 18 months. The cost has tripled in come cases leaving many consumers balking at their electricity bills and crying for relief.
The Central Bank of The Bahamas stated in its new monthly economic and financial developments report for June released yesterday that for the twelve months that ended May domestic retail price inflation rose to 1.9% from 1.4% in the prior year, as pass-through effects from higher energy costs persisted.
Mr. Miller joined members of the general public who have questioned how the corporation ultimately uses the money derived from fuel surcharges.
“Fifty percent of what Iﾒm paying you is a fuel surcharge and Iﾒm not even using that electricity? Iﾒm not using it, and Iﾒm paying for it? How you figure that? I should pay for what I use,” Mr. Miller insisted.
Minister Miller spoke of a committee including himself and Minister of State for Finance James Smith, which investigated BECﾒs fuel surcharge practices.
“BEC, in our deliberations with them, was not forthcoming with pertinent information that was requested from them with regard to the committee that was put together to look into all aspects of why it is that electricity as well as fuel costs are so high in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas,” the minister charged.
“I think BEC has a responsibility to the public to show that, in fact, they are not profiteering on the backs of the Bahamian people, by (making) their formula as to how they arrive at their fuel surcharge (public) and whether or not it is profiteering.”
BEC regularly publishes an advertisement in the daily papers explaining the cost of electricity.
In an ad that appeared in July, the corporation explained that the electricity bill is made up of the basic rate, which is constant and has not changed since October 2003, and the fuel surcharge, which is based on the price of petroleum in the international market and is calculated using a fixed formula.
No explanation of the formula used to calculate the fuel surcharge is given.
The government has said that BECﾒs fuel bill for the 2005/2006 fiscal year was $164 million compared to just $82 million three years ago.
If the corporation is profiteering, Mr. Miller proffered, rebates should be given on the fuel surcharges.
“After all it is a public entity, which means that BEC is owned by the people of The Bahamas ﾖ it is not a conglomerate unto itself, it is not a private entity. (The public) pays all the bills and all the expenses associated with BEC,” he pointed out.
Mr. Miller said he did not think any company in the region “does to their people what BEC does to us as Bahamians, and I want it checked.”
The corporation chose not to answer questions about the method of calculating the surcharge, or what the money earned through the surcharge is spent on. Numerous calls to BECﾒs General Manager Kevin Basden were not returned up to press time.
In fact, BEC stated through a media representative that it declined to answer any questions at all.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
