Normal power has been restored to Bartica, ending more than three weeks of scheduled blackouts caused by the almost back-to-back failures of two generating sets.
Mayor of Bartica Gifford Marshall expressed his gratitude to the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company for returning power on time full power was restored on Saturday and explained that they are now waiting for the new generator that the power company has promised.
Marshall noted that while residents are able to carry on with their daily lives as per normal, they would only breathe easy when the new generator arrives as the older ones can give out at any minute.
The scheduled outages had begun prior to September 18, owing to a no functioning generator at the power station, which was scheduled for maintenance.
Fixing the generator was taking longer than expected, so the power company decided to move a generator from Onverwagt, West Coast Berbice, to Bartica to assist. However, because of the condition of the Linden – Bartica trail, the transportation of the generator was delayed several days.
After a few weeks of having constant power, the town was hit with more blackouts when another of its generators failed last Monday.