Lethem has been enduring load shedding for almost a week, which has started to affect the water supply in the Region 9 community.
Since Thursday last week, Stabroek News has learnt, Lethem and nearby communities have been receiving 12 hours of electricity per day, in what is the latest chapter in the region’s continuing power woes.
According to reports, last Wednesday night the Number One generator at the power station suffered a mechanical problem, resulting in a total blackout in the area. The smaller Number Two generator was then put in place to supply power. With the small generator unable to function continuously and a low supply of fuel, there is now a six-hour supply of power during the day and a six hour supply at nights.
Efforts by this newspaper to reach Regional Chairman Wilson Larantino as well as Regional Executive Officer (REO) Douglas Casimero yesterday for comment on the situation were futile.
Reports are that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds visited the area last weekend and met with residents to discuss the issue, among others. He assured residents during a meeting at the Arapaima Primary School on Friday afternoon that that the government will work towards finding alternatives to provide electricity to the area, including a possible resuscitation of the Moco Moco hydropower project which has been out of operation since 2003.
He said that the current problem is being examined with the aim of finding a solution soon and he related that efforts are being made to provide the Lethem Power Company with another generator within the next month.
According to reports, while Hinds hinted that the community should be prepared to pay an increased cost for electricity, residents vehemently opposed the move, with many saying they would be unable to pay an increased rate.
Earlier in the year, two heavy-capacity generators operated by LPC malfunctioned and as a result there were frequent outages as a small generator with the capacity to power sections of Lethem and St Ignatius individually for six to eight hours was the only available option. Technicians had travelled from the city to assess the problem, while residents, especially businesspersons, complained at the situation taking a toll on their activities.
More recently, there was load shedding in the community during the month-long unrest in Linden, which restricted the supply of fuel from the city to the region and forced regional authorities to ration their limited supplies.
Over the weekend, a new board, which is headed by one Christopher Moses and comprises mainly persons affiliated with the ruling party, was installed to manage the affairs of the LPC.
A St Ignatius resident reported yesterday that the smaller generator cannot supply electricity continuously and that there was also a low supply of fuel at the LPC and these factors were contributing to the situation. And residents yesterday questioned whether the regional administration was seriously concerned about the situation, noting that the region can purchase fuel from nearby Brazil at a cheaper cost.
In addition to the load shedding, residents said yesterday that the water supply has been affected, with some noting that the water has been trickling through the pipes in the area over the past two days.
According to a resident, as the load shedding drags on, the flow of water decreases. “We moving back to the days of lighting lamp and fetching water from the creek,” he said.
