Currently in the midst of its busiest time of the year, Lethem continues to experience power woes with businesses forced to rely on their back-up generators as the border town endures its fourth week of constant power outages.
“It’s a part of life right now,” said a frustrated President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Jacqueline D’Aguiar who told Stabroek News yesterday that the blackouts are now unscheduled and “some people are getting more (power outages) than some.” The water supply, which depends on the power is also erratic, the businesswoman said adding that the power company has said nothing to residents and she has given up on trying to find out.
Businessman Alfred Ramsaran said that many persons from the coast and Brazil are in the community for the rodeo which began yesterday. He said that the power situation has impacted negatively on business and many are using their back-up generators. “They have not been able to resolve the situation. We are punishing right now,” he said adding that the business community has met with the power company but the utility has not said when the problems will be fixed.
Four Thursdays ago, the main generator which supplied electricity to the growing town on the Guyana-Brazil border encountered difficulties and power has been rationed since with different areas receiving power for five hours followed by 10 hours without electricity on a scheduled basis but now the blackouts are unscheduled.
D’Aguiar had previously said that the power shortage is affecting residents and businesses negatively as they depend on electricity for everything. “One old faithful engine is there…it look like is the one engine doing the same five hours all around,” she had observed.
The RCCI president had said that they do not blame the ground staff for the issues. It is clear, she said, that the generator cannot supply enough power to the community particularly at peak hours. She said everyone is trying to buy generators but when they are switched on, there is a lot of noise.
Residents had said that a mechanical problem developed in the new engine that was donated by the government last year to provide round-the-clock power.
A source close to the Lethem Power Company had told Stabroek News that the engine was down due to mechanical problems. The source also said that the engine was then taken to Brazil for repairs because it is closer and cheaper.
Lethem residents have been complaining of insufficient amounts of electricity for several years now owing to the constant breaking down of the generator.
