Essequibians decry increased power outages

Once again, residents living along the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) have been plagued with a series of nonstop power outages which have affected persons throughout the region; and according to these residents, the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is incapable of ending their woes.

Guyana Times was told on Saturday that while the utility company is trying to bring the electricity situation under control, only two of the five standby generators at the Anna Regina Power Station are up and running. As such, engineers are appointed to work on a 24-hour shift.
It was related that residents have been affected by this issue, which is a major inconvenience. Additionally, the business community in the region is complaining about the significant losses which are incurred, since frozen items thaw and spoil. Further, this publication was told that there is a heavy cost attached to running individual standby generators and the high fuel prices are adding to the burden of residents as well as the wider business community.

Promised generators
Amid these concerns raised, calls were also mounted for the supply of new generators, which were promised by the Government to be installed before the end of this year. Residents are hoping that the site would be completed in time for the installation so as to ease their ongoing distress.
In response to the calls, a statement issued by the power station on the Essequibo Coast revealed that two of their standby generators suddenly went down and they were forced to put a load shedding arrangement in place.
Additionally, a backup generator which arrived on Friday developed technical problems, but residents were assured that the engineering department was working beyond the call of duty to restore a stable flow of electricity.
In the past months, episodes of blackout and prolonged power outages have become one of the usual scenarios in many communities and regions at large. Apart from Region Two, numerous pleas were also made by its neighbouring Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) for a stable supply of electricity. In one instance, the power supply to the community of Canal Number Two was cut for almost 12 hours.
“We always getting blackout, sometimes more than two time every week and it does last the whole day. The last time it cut off at seven and they come till in the night to put it on back after more than five reports,” one resident said.
Meanwhile, in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), a few months ago, prolonged periods of blackouts forced Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo to host his weekly press conference outdoors. At that time, he blasted the Government, noting that here is an obvious lack of short- and long-term solutions to address GPL’s inefficiencies.