South Ruimveldt blackout: Road contractor’s excavation weakens foundations, topples 9 GPL poles

…leaves 2,000 households in darkness

Some 2,000 households in South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, have endured over 18 hours of power outage after several utility poles were uprooted by construction works along Aubrey Barker Road, Georgetown.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Kesh Nandlall, who was in the area during remedial works said that following works done to lengthen the road by a contractor, the foundation of the poles was dug into while excavating drains.
He explained that the digging caused a ripple effect, knocking down one pole, which then pulled down the others.

Nandlall stated that the goal is to have power restored by 21:00 hours, explaining that a lot of work is involved in rectifying the issue.
“They are digging the drains to extend the road, and they dug into the foundation of the poles, which caused the ripple effect. One pole fell, followed by others, and later on in the night, a few more came down. About nine poles fell, including 13.8 poles carrying medium voltage, and seven or eight other utility poles, including telecommunication poles,” he said.
Due to this, replanting must be done, and they will be planting some wooden poles.
“We are going to bring wooden poles. We are going to bring new wooden poles, fit them, reconstruct them, and get the network connected again… We have to replant poles and restore the network so that we can get the 13.8kV medium voltage line up, and get service back to the community. We are asking the community to be patient, and we are working as fast as we can to get the power back up. I know the PM visited last night, and I know this is a matter of urgency.”
On this note, revealing that the poles will be replanted, he pleaded with the residents to continue being patient.
“We are asking the community to be patient, and we are working as fast as we can to restore power. We are working to restore power tonight, though I’m not sure exactly when, but we’ll get power back tonight.”
Meanwhile, Nandlall also issued a warning to contractors operating near utility poles, urging them to contact GPL whenever they are doing roadworks in the vicinity of utility poles.
“I urge all contractors, and we have been doing so for some time, to contact us when working in the vicinity of our networks so that we can help and advise them. We can’t be around all the contractors, but specifically, those working with our network, we will dedicate resources to inspect their work and offer guidance.”
This incident has caused significant inconvenience, with internet and telecommunications services also down in the area. “It’s not just GPL that is affected, but also telecommunications. It’s very inconvenient for consumers,” Nandlall told media operatives. (G2)