The recent spate of blackouts has been deemed “unacceptable” by President Bharrat Jagdeo, who yesterday urged citizens to be patient as the utility company works towards delivering a more reliable electricity supply.

President Jagdeo, told media operatives yesterday at a news conference held at the International Conference Centre, that he has had discussions with members of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Company.

Jagdeo explained that some of the blackouts are necessary to facilitate the building of the transmission line from Kingston to Sophia along the Railway embankment. He said for this to be done the power had to be shut down.  He said things will remain “tight” until this is completed.

The Head of State said that he is “very concerned” that Wartsila has shifted the deadline from May to November. He said that this was unacceptable and that there must be some penalties for this.

Jagdeo said that he hoped that within weeks that the power plant will be operational.

He acknowledged that more work needed to be done but he was optimistic that for Christmas there will be an adequate amount of power in the system and that the spate of blackouts will end.

The Head of State, however, noted that the constant blackouts could cause damage to equipment since the power is not cut off as cleanly as it should. Further, he urged GPL to ensure that the outages adhere as closely as possible to the scheduled outages that the company has been publishing in the newspapers.