Mabaruma power woes raised in Parliament

Nov 11, 2013 News

Persistent power outages at Mabaruma and its surrounding communities have given cause for the matter to be raised even at the highest level of decision making in the country.

Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Samuel Hinds

The question was put to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who was also Energy Minister at the last National Assembly sitting, where he was required to provide an answer as to why residents of Mabaruma and its environs only enjoy electricity supply for six hours, between the hours of 17:00 hours to 23:00 hours daily.
To this, the answer was provided that the government has been pursuing a policy of improving the electricity supply in such hinterland areas in a step by step and sustainable way. According to the Energy Minister, the policy was to stay in line with the resources available to the government, the level of development and other circumstances of the community, inclusive of what the community could be expected to and was ready to pay.
Asked whether there was any consideration for twenty-four hours of electricity supply to residents in Mabaruma, the Minister answered saying that in line with Government’s policy to improve electricity supply in the hinterland, and its desire to supply electricity in a sustainable way, works are in progress to upgrade and extend the electricity network. It was noted too that a mini-electricity utility is to be established.
As for the question of when this will be possible, however, the Energy Minister was unable to state. “I cannot say now how soon a twenty-four hour electricity supply will be available in Mabaruma, not until after we would have discussed with residents the requirements for such a service and learnt of what they would be ready to support.”
It was unclear though at which time this discussion with residents will be facilitated. According to one disgruntled resident who has been stationed in Mabaruma for the past 53 years, the situation is such that residents are becoming “very annoyed”.
The resident said that while the standard six-hour supply of electricity was considered very limited, at the moment the communities are getting no electricity at all. “For about two weeks now we are not getting power and no one is saying anything,” the man noted.
He said that what was further worrying was the fact that there are rumours that the communities would be out of electricity until next year. According to him, the reason for the non-supply is due to “a part in the generator not functioning.”
Just over a year ago, a 750 kva generator was sent into the region to supply electricity to villages in proximity to Mabaruma. However, according to the resident, the machine has over time been experiencing mechanical difficulty and would have to be repaired regularly.
“There is always a problem with a part,” he said.
It was noted that the new generator was expected to function alongside the old generator that provided electricity to Mabaruma prior to the procurement of the new one. Unfortunately the functioning of the old generator ceased after it started “acting up”.
The resident said that he was of the opinion that once the old generator was functioning, it could have been used to interchange with the new one. Now since neither of the two generators is in operation, the residents of Mabaruma are forced to depend on use of personal generators.
“Right now it is very costly to use the generator. Sometimes we can’t use the generator both day and night because fuel is very expensive. But we need electricity because we need to work our fridge, charge our phones and so on,” the resident lamented.

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