The business lady said it was the amount PPUC charged her that made her livid with anger. “PPUC had announced earlier that it would increase its power rates in June this year. The recent statement I got was for the power that I used in May not June 2008. Why did they charge me the June power rate for the electricity I used in May, one month before the rates went up?” she complained bitterly. The angry woman seems to have a legitimate complain and PPUC should look into this situation. There might be others out there who have the same problem and those officials or offices, which are charged with the responsibility of regulating Palau’s electrical rates, including the Olbiil Era Kelulau, should look into this matter while it can still be corrected. The complaints on the prices of fuel, gasoline and diesel, have similar rings to them as this one on electrical usage. People say many fuel businesses, if not all, charge very big prices for the products they sell because, according to them, the world prices for these items have gone up drastically. The world prices for fuel may have gone up recently, but most of the fuels being sold locally were imported and stored in Palau long before shipping costs went up. These people maintain that the prices of fuels bought and stored in Palau earlier should not be the same as the prices of newly imported fuels from abroad? Considerations might be given to storage and handling costs, but these materials should not be treated on the same levels as those fuels that came on tankers from Mobil or Exxon in recent weeks, they said. All sections of our causeways must have safety walls A former Public Works Officer reported that he recently witnessed what could have been a costly vehicle mishap near the bridge next to Nobor King’s business establishment in Malakal. “I was driving from Malakal to Koror when two sedans speeding from the direction of Malakal passed me. As they rounded the nearby bridge corner they bumped unto each other and began zigzagging dangerously. One avoided being overturned by hitting the concrete safety wall while the other screeched to a stop only a few inches from the edge of the unprotected side of the causeway. At the speed they were going, the drivers and passengers of those two vehicles escaped death and serious injuries by sheer luck and by one of the safety walls in the area”, the former Public Works Officer said. Why hasn’t a concrete safety wall been built in that section of the Malakal Causeway near the bridge next to Nobor King’s establishment? That spot had been the sight of numerous vehicle mishaps, some resulting in deaths, in past years. A protective wall must be installed there as soon as possible before we have more tragedies on our hands!
