Bartica power outage…Upheaval linked to lack of communication – REO

Jul 31, 2014 News

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By Sharmain Grainger
Although it has been experiencing an economical boom in recent years, Bartica has been seeing its fair share of

challenges as well.  And according to Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Seven, Mr. Peter Ramotar, realising and sustaining development in just about any sphere could be hampered if a single ingredient is absent.
He, during an interview with this publication, alluded to the electricity woes that Bartica has been faced with, pointing out that while the situation is not new to the area it certainly was made worse by a lack of communication.
Reports are that for more than a month the Bartica area was plagued with persistent outages with the situation reaching overwhelming proportions during the past week, forcing residents to take to the streets to protest their plight. However, it was not until the retaliatory action that the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) issued an official statement on the matter informing that “at ý18:15 hrs this (Thursday) evening a failed turbo charger caused the No.9 Caterpillar Generating Engine to come offline. Consequent of this, all of Bartica is without electricity at present.”
GPL in its statement too, informed that a team comprising of MACORP and GPL personnel was working to assess the situation, replace the damaged turbo charger and restore power at earliest.
But, according to Ramotar, the situation should not have reached a point where residents had to protest. “These are mechanical things and you do get shut downs here and there, and we are acquainted with the fact that GPL is heavily subsidised; it is not like it is a company making big profits and not ploughing anything back…We understand that, but the frustrations do boil over when you are not getting the kind of information you should be getting,” asserted the REO.
Moreover, he insisted that from the onset, GPL should have been a bit more forthcoming in shedding light into the developing situation.
“It is not that people were reluctant to understand the problem because we know the problem,” said Ramotar as he speculated that the possibility exists that the power company was busy trying to get things fixed in the hope that it didn’t escalate to a level where it considerably affected residents. But the fact of the matter Ramotar noted, is that “it went on and on and on, from one thing to the other.”
As such he noted that calls from residents for an improvement in the electricity service cannot be seen as unreasonable.
In a statement on Saturday, GPL in apologising for the power outage said, that power was restored to the entire Bartica community at 22:30 on Friday evening following partial resumption at 17:10 hours when the No. 9 Caterpillar unit was returned to service following extensive repairs.  It was also noted that the No. 8 unit was utilized the previous night to ensure supply to all residents which was taken out of service Saturday morning to complete commissioning checks and flushing of the cooling system.
As a result, some areas – Byderabo, Second Avenue and Fourth Street, were without power from 11:00 hrs to 14:00 hrs when the No. 8 unit was returned to service.
But challenges in Bartica have not been limited to electricity.

Bartica, which is situated on the left bank of the Essequibo River in Cuyuni-Mazaruni, (Region Seven), serves as the gateway to the interior. Moreover, Ramotar noted that residents have long been calling for the rehabilitation of the Bartica/Potaro road.
According to him, Bartica over the past couple of years has been experiencing economical growth at a level that most other parts of the country have not seen. According to him, this has been fuelled by the mining industry which has however, seen some setbacks in recent times which have been linked to a dip in the price of gold.
The boom in mining over the past few years had however, seen a tremendous amount of traffic on the Bartica/Potaro road resulting in its dilapidation.
Currently, the Ministry of Public Works is undertaking works on the roads. But according to Ramotar, the works may not be to a level that residents would like to see. “The people are asking for a passable road and I don’t think that is unreasonable,” said Ramotar, as he noted that “I am convinced that mining (the industry) should be contributing to the road. I know the GGMC (Guyana Geology and Mines Commission) is doing a lot in the mining district but the main artery I would want to think would be this Bartica/Potaro Road and at least we should have some more resources pumped into it by the GGMC and/or the Ministry of Works.”
Having heard the cries of the people, the REO noted that “we are promised by the Ministry of Works that they are seeking further funding to do a state of the art road that we really deserve in this Region.”
The Region, according to Ramotar, is currently also benefiting from works being undertaken by the Ministry of Housing and Water through the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).  However, he noted that many people may not be aware of this development which entails a massive expansion programme which is expected to see the new housing schemes of Four and Five Miles Bartica being able to access potable water. GWI has already installed a new 500,000 litres water storage tank, and pipelines are currently being laid to reach the target residents.

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