Hubert Thomas of Catherina’s Lust and Deochand Kurhair of Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice are worried that leaning and rotting electricity poles close to their homes would fall and cause damage.
They told Stabroek News that the poles have been in deplorable conditions for a long time and that even after several complaints to the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) at Onverwagt, the situation still remains scary.
Thomas said that up to late last year he made another complaint and an official drove into the area, looked around and drove out “without saying a word to anyone”.
The leaning pole has caused a live wire to fall on his fence and it would “graze” in the breeze. Because of that, he said he cannot let his grandchildren visit him.
In disgust, he lamented, “Where must we go to get help when something happens? We are paying our bills to get a proper service.” He also said that recently a “high voltage” in the area had caused damage to some of his appliances.
Kurhair who has grandchildren living with him said the pole located in his yard is rotten and almost off the ground.
After several phone calls from him and other residents as well as from this newspaper, GPL visited and tied a shorter pole next to it and said they do not have new poles to replace it. But he is still not satisfied and said the company is waiting on something terrible to happen instead of taking precautions and prevent it.
Two doors away, residents also expressed similar fear of the poles in their yard collapsing and resulting in losses and damage.
They are pleading with GPL to take care of the situation urgently. (Shabna Ullah)
