Power crisis again in Berbice
…160 blackouts in 2012
The performance of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) has been deteriorating in Berbice over the past few months.
Countless blackouts have gripped the East and West Berbice system in recent times and the situation seems to be worsening.
A telephone call to the Engineer attached to the Canefield Power Station was met with hostility as he was not prepared to offer any explanation for over 10 power outages in the region within a 24- hour period. He said “ya’ll disturbing me” and “ya’ll can print whatever ya’ll want to print”.
Efforts to contact Regional Operations Manager, Ayube Bacchus yesterday, proved futile. Up to yesterday around 14:30hrs, there were 23 blackouts in July, and 160 blackouts for the year as compared to 89 during the same period last year. That means that power outages have almost doubled as compared to the same period last year.
There were 34 blackouts in May, 17 in June. If GPL continues the current trend, it could see 2012 having the most recorded blackouts for the company, ever.
The increasingly hot and humid days have caused Berbicians to be reeling from the daily rolling blackouts and the heat. An interview with Bacchus in May had Berbicians all optimistic that things were okay with the power company and its generating capacity.
Use of fuel, he had said, is one crucial area in which the company would be paying much attention to cushion the effects of the budget cuts. Fuel procurement, maintenance, sub- projects, “it may have an impact on it, but the bottom line is that we have to manage this thing and be more efficient and do things better”.