Georgetown: The island communities of Leguan and Wakenaam, in the Essequibo River are now experiencing a 24- hour power supply thanks to the upgrades done by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company. The historic transition was formally acknowledged recently when President Donald Ramotar declared operational, the rehabilitated power station serving the island.
In his remarks, President Ramotar said that government has been trying to provide electricity to citizens and this has been costing a lot. “At the moment we spend about $9 billion every year to try to ensure that we subsidise electricity for our consumers”. The move to the 24-hour power supply will be particularly beneficial to the women residing on the island, especially those who carry the “unequal pressure in the house in every way”. Children and youths will also be able to benefit from increased study time, he added as he cited the performance by other students who may have had “an unfair advantage.”
“Now we expect to hear that the children of Leguan and Wakenaam are challenging the rest of the country in producing top students as well, because we are now investing in you. Indirectly it might be said, but you will be having 24 hours electricity to study”. He also urged that students look, less, at soap operas and turn to the learning channel. Residents were also urged to take advantage of the future online courses which will be offered by the University of Guyana.
The link between education and development was also emphasised by the president who pointed out that the economical growth being experienced over the last eight years coincided with the amazing performances academically by the local students who continue to win regional awards.
He expressed his hope that development on the two islands would “grow rapidly” with the new arrangement, so much so that GPL would have to increase the generating capacity of the power station. This is all part of the plan to have the islands benefit from being able to not only produce agricultural products, but to move into being agro-industrial producers.
The linking of several areas, such as Parika and Skeldon which are already connected, was highlighted by the president. The plan is to eventually link Essequibo to the others, he added, and all of these areas will benefit, especially if problems such as shortages develop.
Government remains bullish on the Amaila Falls Hydro Power project, and President Ramotar is optimistic that it will soon become a reality.
“Norway has just transferred US$80 million to the IDB (Inter American Development Bank), and that will go into the hydro electricity project that we have. We have not given up on that project.”
He reiterated that Guyana can become a developed country within his lifetime, since it possesses not only the natural resources that many other countries lack, but also the talented people to make this possible. New infrastructure such as the expanded international airport, hotels and the deep water harbour were mentioned.
The lack of developmental partners, in the form of the political opposition, President Ramotar said had made the last three years particularly difficult. He noted that every single project put forward has been cut by the opposition political parties in Parliament.
A comparison was made by the president, of when the PPP was in opposition and they agitated for more money for health, hydro power and development industries. “I have an opposition that seems to want to cut; they seem to be born with a scissors in their hand. I have never heard them say, ‘Ramotar spend more money on electricity, spend more money of education’ ….so we have no developmental partners”. It was this refusal to cooperate or even have any dialogue, President Ramotar said, that resulted in prorogation and the “return to seek another mandate from our people.”
He expressed the hope that frequent power outages would be a thing of the past. The advent of a steady 24- hour supply should see the island and the neighbouring, Wakenaam which is linked to its neighbour, benefit from further development, the president said.
It was recalled by GPL’s Chief Executive Officer, Bharrat Dindyal that the island’s first electricity supply service was commissioned by former President Janet Jagan. He explained that initially the service was provided six hours daily, then 12 hours from Monday to Friday and through the weekend, with special consideration given to national holidays and special occasions. The communities east and west of the power station, he added, including Canefield in the East, and from La Bagatelle to Henrietta in the West were first serviced. In 1998, the service was extended to the northern part of the island, and today over 1,000 customers benefit.
Chairman of the GPL Board, Winston Brassington, also addressed stakeholders, noting that “we live in an age where power is expected to be on all the time and this was no different”. The issue of power outages, Brassington said should be adequately addressed by the built-in redundancy of the system as he urged those responsible for the operations of the station to “follow the book” and not take short cuts.
GPL, he assured is keen to ensure that the supply of electricity is of a high quality, with good service from its staff. He appealed to residents to pay their bills and avoid stealing power since the losses, whether technical or otherwise amount to some 37%.
GPL was challenged to maintain electricity supplies due to one generating sets being used, and according to the GPL CEO, replacement capacity was rented during periods of major overhauls as efforts were made to maintain the service schedule. Other challenges also included the lack of service until vital repairs could be done. The move to a 24-hour service was seen as necessary due to the minimal demand experienced after 08:00hrs being uneconomical.
The power station now has three new 513 KVA units, auxiliary supplies and a heavy – lift forklift. The new generating sets were installed over a three-day period from, December 9 to 11, with successful load testing and synchronisation being done to ensure that their usage is assured and machine rotation is possible without power outages. Fuel storage capacity has been expanded to enable at least three weeks of operation. Additional staff have also been trained and employed to provide maintenance and other operations.
In closing the GPL CEO said that future plans will see the distribution network being upgraded from 4,160 v to 13,800 v, early in 2015 to reduce losses. He added, “We are projecting that almost 2.6 million units of electricity would be produced in 2015.”
He thanked the technical staff, MACORP and other stakeholders who made the achievement possible.
Brief remarks were also given by Region Three Chairman, Julius Faerber and MACORP’s Sales Manager, Lyndon Bentinck
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