Lethem was from last night set to once again receive a 20-hour daily supply of electricity after a generator set that had to be repaired in the city was returned and set up.
Christopher Moses, Chairman of the Board of the Lethem Power Company Inc (LPCI) told Stabroek News via telephone from the Region Nine community that the generator set was put back into operation around 9 pm and “everyone is on that line.” He said that residents will receive electricity until 6 this morning, when there will be a two hour shut down.
According to Moses, from 8 am residents can expect to receive a 20 hour supply of electricity.
The exciter for the FG 625 kVa unit failed over a week ago, resulting in residents receiving five hours of electricity every ten hours. The disruption also affected water supply. Hours after a protest action had ended on Tuesday, LPCI had said that the unit which had been repaired in Georgetown was to be flown back to Lethem that day and would have been back in operation within 48 hours. That deadline elapsed on Thursday night with no word from the power company.
When Stabroek News spoke with Moses earlier yesterday, he explained that they had about two hours work time left on the generating set before the residents could receive electricity.
When contacted Carlton Beckles told Stabroek News the protest action by residents was effective. This newspaper spoke to Beckles late in the afternoon and while noting that they had heard nothing officially about the power supply, he said that he had been informed that there would have been “a test run”. He said that even though the 48-hour deadline given for the generators to be back up passed, he was willing to give the authorities some additional time.
He had promised that if there was no satisfaction, residents would intensify their protest action.
When Stabroek News spoke with him again around 9:30 pm, he said that the electricity came on then went off for about half an hour before coming back on.
Over the years, the community, which lies on the border with Brazil, has been hit by many power problems. Residents had complained that this situation was making their lives hard and was hurting the business community.
LPCI on Wednesday outlined plans to restore an acceptable level of generation by mid-December and a reasonable back-up system next year.
