Electrocuted foreman: Operator was working for private sub-contractor

…“me and he sit down and we gaff” – mom says son dies same day after she left Guyana

The heavy-duty machine operator who was electrocuted on Saturday at Number 52 Village, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) was at the time of the incident working for a sub-contractor planting poles in the area.
Michael Benjamin, 27, died when there was an electrical feed coming through the pole he was planting.

According to a source close to the Trinidadian firm, which was contracted to plant the poles from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the heavy wind shook the 69-KV live power live bringing it about one foot away from the pole.
At the time Benjamin of Lot 6 Dukestown, Corriverton was operating a hydraulic lift which was holding the pole.
The now-dead man’s mother told this publication that he recently had an accident and as a result, there was a steel plate in his foot.
At the time of the incident, another worker Oddel Kyte was holding the said pole and quickly let go of it after he recognised that it was conducting electricity.
Benjamin had been working with the private contractor for the past six years and was considered very safety-conscious. He was the foreman of the team.

Grieving mother
Wonder Benjamin said she spent several hours talking to her son before he died.
The woman, who operates as a domestic worker in Suriname, said she returned home on Friday to visit her children and returned on Saturday but before she could arrive at her Suriname home she heard of her son’s demise.
“Me and he sit down and we gaff, he say, ‘Mummy, look how long you put in for land since 2002 and you did not get none. You go back again and you put in and you did not get none. When you come back from Suriname you would go to the land office in town [Georgetown].”

The 54-year-old mother said she and her son, conversed from 03:00h on Saturday until 05:30h when she started to perpare to make the trip back to Suriname.
According to Benjamin, she arrived at Paramaribo at about 14:30h and before she could disembark, she received a phone call indicating that her son had died.
At about 12:20h on Saturday, while operating at Number 52 Village Middle Walk Dam, Benjamin was operating the hydraulic lift and Kyte was holding the Post centering it in a hole. Due to a sudden movement that caused the post to accidentally touch the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) electrical line, Kyte’s body immediately started to vibrate and he get go of the post.
When Kyte when to check on Benjamin, he saw him lying motionless on the ground next to the hydraulic lift.
According to a source close to the firm which was subcontracted to plant the posts for GPL, the men had moments completed planting one pole next to the 69-Kv power line and were about to plant the second one when the incident occurred.
The source said no request was made to GPL to take off the power.
Only recently Region Six Chairman David Armogan made an appeal to contractors and machine operators to stay away from electric lines; pointing out that on many occasions the lines get damaged which results in prolonged power outages.
“It is also dangerous for the persons who are operating these machines. These are high power lines and it can kill the person who is operating the machine if it comes into contact with the lines.” Armogan had cautioned. (G4)