The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is at it again. While the rainy season is yet to arrive, the season of rolling blackouts began to make its presence heavily felt throughout the past week in the whole of East and West Berbice. As if the heat-streaked and drought-filled days weren’t enough, poor Berbicians are once again feet deep in another seeming blackout crisis. Certain areas, especially on the Corentyne, are the hardest-hit with reported blackouts every day all day.
I tried contacting the Regional Manager of GPL New Amsterdam, Mr Ayube Bacchus, but the phones rang out. I then tried GPL’s Canefield Power Station and spoke with an Assistant Shift Engineer on duty at the time. It was very bad news. The individual said the recent spate of blackouts in the region was due to major mechanical defects on one of the main generating sets (at Canefield, East Canje). He said that the company was “working on” the situation which appeared to be a grave one.
The Mirlees Blackstone Genera-tor is one of the main generators at the Canefield Station and it is widely suspected that this engine has developed massive faults. More calls to GPL’s transmission control at Canefield Power Station revealed that the problem extends to the whole of East and West Berbice, although some power is being accessed from Skeldon. There is no time-frame as to when the problems would be fixed, and load-shedding guides were said to be showing on the TV.
Several questions come to the surface. What has happened to the project to connect the Berbice system with the Demerara grid? When will the linking of Skeldon and #53 Village sub-station finally be completed so that more power can be accessed for the Berbice grid? What has happened to the other major set at the Canefield Station, the #4 unit? Is the conversion of the generators at Canefield from using diesel to heavy fuel oil still being done? If so, when will it be completed? And the major question being asked by virtually every concerned Berbician at the moment is when the blackout culture in Berbice will end.
In July, last year, Berbicians suffered their last power crisis.
Yours faithfully,
Leon J Suseran
