Daily blackouts plaguing Lethem, despite millions in investments

Oct 12, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Despite receiving millions in funding to offset electricity costs this year, the border-town of Lethem in the Rupununi has been experiencing daily blackouts, with some areas of the municipality being without power for hours.

Reports are that the power outages commenced some two weeks ago with some areas being without electricity for as long as six hours. “Every day is a notice about blackout. We have a solar farm that costs millions but like it ain’t serving its purpose,” an angry resident of Culvert City told this publication.

The Lethem Power Company (LPC) has been posting load-shedding notices on its Facebook page in recent days and according to the entity, the exercise is to facilitate ongoing maintenance at the power station. “Most times they lying about the time when power will be restored,” an angry resident said.

According to a notice which was published by the LPC on Wednesday, Culvert City was expected to be without power from 09:30hrs until 17:00hrs while Tabatinga was expected to be without power from 17:00hrs until midnight. Other areas were expected to also be without power for several hours.

Reports are that many businesses have suffered losses, mainly of perishable goods. Lethem’s power grid is supplemented by the 1.0-megawatt solar farm which became operational in 2022. However, the solar facility only provides supplemental power to the town’s grid during the day time.

In August this year, the National Assembly approved a sum of $264 million in supplementary funding to support the operations of the LPC. This was in addition to a $4.9B which was approved under the 2023 National Budget for both the Lethem and Linden power companies.

“We will remain closely engaged with the respective companies to ensure that they continue to manage their operations efficiently. We will also remain closely engaged with the communities,” Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh told the National Assembly in August. Lethem residents noted that the power outages have become unbearable since they are occurring when Guyana has been experiencing sweltering heat generated by an ongoing heat wave.

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Electricity, Investments, Lethem Power Company (LPC), municipality, Rupununi

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