Essequibians are fed up with the blackouts

REGION 2:

STABROEK NEWS, SEPTEMBER 10 --- Blackouts rocked the Essequibo Coast for the third consecutive week, day and night without any end in sight. Essequibians are tired and fed up with this type of treatment. There have been all kinds of excuses and rumours that the parts for the two Wartsila engines will be in the country by Wednesday September 10; we are fed up with promises, we need to see action.

These generating plants continually draw attention to the heavy capital investment in repairs and fabrication of parts. The state of these engines was revealed by having to withstand the scrutiny of the wider public which was already knowledgeable and which was sensitive to the correct reason why they continue to malfunction on a daily basis. Given the advanced age of these engines our electricity woes, as far as power generation is concerned, will not be eased substantially on the Essequibo Coast in the near future.

With the two generating sets with a low capacity of megawatts and the addition of several new housing schemes including the Mainstay holiday resort now connected to the system, the power capacity cannot be pushed or peak demand handled. There is no back-up engine on standby to cater for any engines that go down, as we are now seeing. The government should be concerned about the heavy financial losses in the electricity operation at the defective Anna Regina power plant.

No one can doubt that GPL’s generating capacity is facing more challenges, and as a whole has many barriers to progress. The company has not made any important strides throughout the country. Perhaps the most serious impediment is poor planning at top level management. It would be advisable for policy-makers to give special consideration to Anna Regina operations considering the critical nature of the current situation with the frequent blackouts.

[BY MOHAMED KHAN]