Damaged submarine cable affects water supply on WBD

Hundreds of residents on the West Bank of Demerara are experiencing an “unreliable” flow of water as a result of the damaged Guyana Power and Light (GPL) submarine cable.
This is according to the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).
In a notice on Friday, the water company explained that all of GWI Stations on the West Bank of Demerara are being affected by low voltage. This has caused station motors to become unable to operate continuously, thereby resulting in an unreliable water supply.
However, the most affected stations are Canal Number Two Polder, Belle Vue, Wales, L’Oratoire and Good Hope. “Due to the severity of the situation, a generator is being mobilised at Canal Number Two to mitigate the current problems being faced with water,” the company assured.
This generator will, on the other hand, improve service to customers in Canal Number Two and Belle West, while customers along the villages from Schoonord to Free and Easy will remain affected, GWI informed as it added its apologies for the inconvenience caused.
This alert from GWI comes on the heels of an announcement also on Friday, by the Director General at the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, that the main submarine cable across the Demerara River to link the Vreed-en-hoop and Kingston substations has been restored with less load shedding activities.
Nonetheless Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GPL, Albert Gordon had disclosed at a press conference that they are in talks with both Giftland and Banks DIH Limited to buy power from them to boost the capacity of the interconnected system. The two entities are powering their own operations using heavy fuel oil and have substantial capacity.
In a notice published in the daily newspapers by the Maritime Department, it was revealed that works commenced on June 8 to rectify the first damaged submarine cable laid on the riverbed along the channel of the Demerara River which connects the Vreed-en-Hoop and Kingston Power Stations.
A second GPL submarine cable was disrupted on June 6, due to another maritime accident that occurred four days after the disruption of the 69kV submarine cable.
This 13.8kV submarine cable, which rests along the upper Demerara River within proximity of Craig, East Bank Demerara, was dislodged by a barge sailing along the Demerara River.
As a result of this incident, West Demerara customers from Vriesland to La Retraite were without electricity while efforts were underway to alternatively power these customers from the Vreed-en-Hoop Substation.