Lethem residents are experiencing prolonged power outages after a generator failed on Thursday, the latest in a string of power woes that has plagued the community on the Guyana-Brazil border.
After the failure of the main generating set about two months ago, the growing town has been powered by two smaller generators but the community experienced constant blackouts since the generators could not cope with the needs of the town. “Beginning August this year, Lethem residents have had to put up with extended power outages every single day…for the past two months. Power outages have ranged from four hours to eleven hours a day,” said resident Clairmont Lye in a letter published in today’s Stabroek News.
He said that on Thursday, residents were informed that power will be off for twelve hours every day for an unspecified time. “We had previously been told also we should not expect 24-hour service until sometime next year,” he added.
Another resident, Carlton Beckles expressed frustration at the current situation and warned that if it is not resolved soon, residents will picket the company as well as the offices of the regional administration because they seem to be doing nothing to resolve the problems. He said that on August 20, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds visited the community and promised that the big generator would be repaired within a month. This was not done, Beckles said.
He said that power was supplied to sections of the town on a staggered basis since then.
“Your freezers and dem thing cannot even work properly,” he said. “Nobody from the power company, from the regional administration is coming out and making any statement about it,” an upset Beckles added.
He said that in the past when the situation was not as bad, prominent businesspersons picketed the power company but they are silent now. He said that there is a new Lethem Power Company board in place and residents do not know the criteria for the selection of persons to the it but they are persons with strong political ties who have been “tried and proven as failures.”
“We want a board with a vision…so ten years down the line we would have a reliable electricity supply,” Beckles said, while adding that they need answers now. “It is very frustrating now,” he said, while adding that the economic development of the town is dependent on a reliable electricity supply. He declared that Lethem needs a new generator set. “It has been getting from bad to worse,” he said.
He also lambasted the company and the regional administration for not communicating with the residents. He said that when President Donald Ramotar visited the town recently, there was all day electricity. “We had over 40 something hours power continuously when the president was here and now we getting only six hours,” he said.
Another resident also lamented the irregular power supply. He said that the rationing of power is hampering businesses. “Is just one engine they got working,” he said. “We’re just waiting and hoping that it would be fixed soon,” he said.
