Guyana Electrical Consultants & Associates

Many motorists must have been surprised to find a traffic light actually working at the corner of Avenue of the Republic and Regent Street.They may be even more surprised to find that it has continued to work since being installed last Wednesday by Guyana Electrical Consultants and Association(GECA),a private company that has been haranguing the police department for almost a year to give them a chance at showing what they can do. 

The GECA which was registered in 2003 began working on the concept of refurbishing traffic lights tailored for local use since 1997.    

Last year the company was invited by the Police Commissioner and met with other officers at Eve Leary where they made a presentation of their traffic light system. Although the officers were impressed they could not make a decision as to whether or not to hire the team since they are only responsible for the maintenance of the lights and not for any purchase. The company had proposed to refurbish all the city lights as well as install new ones.

Nevertheless, in May the GECA met with the Traffic Chief and asked that they be allowed to install their traffic light system at the same city intersection.

The private sector was approached to assist the GECA to install special features with this new system such as pre-timing the traffic lights, that is, installing sensors for the traffic lights to function in keeping with the flow of traffic, says Ray Phillips of GECA. Other features such as audible indicators for the visually impaired were also proposed but to date they have not got a positive response.   In the end the company installed a modern control system that is used in the developed world with their own funds but excluding any additional features. The parts for the control system were imported and assembled to fit local specifications. The police’s initial response to the installation was good, according to Phillips. “I think it is now up to the authority [to react],” he says, speaking in terms of the possible purchase of the traffic lights.    

The GECA draws its expertise from a pool of part-time qualified persons that can utilize modern technologies. In the long term the company hopes to invite large corporations to send their employees for training.

Some of the work performed by this company includes energy saving (to reduce electricity use through legal means), power system designs(electrical layout), installing alarm systems, and conducting audits of electrical use.