Dear Editor,
You know, someone can write a good book on the electricity situation over the years in this country. The much touted Skeldon Sugar Factory Co-
Generation Plant is currently having problems. Either the 5.0 MW or one of the two 2.5 MW engines has developed some sort of mechanical problem, which has the power company resorting to massive daily load-shedding in Regions Five and Six. This began about three weeks ago. It is getting worse. Berbicians were receiving a somewhat favourable power supply with just Canefield supplying the entire region with power—-even before the Skeldon Factory came on stream. How then, with Skeldon out of the equation, is Canefield not able to power the entire region? How long more until the 69KV line’s commissioning in Berbice? When will the conversion to Heavy Fuel Oil be done at Canefield? What happened to all the 1.5 MW Caterpillar Sets at Canefield that were brought in to serve the region several years ago? Is the Number Four generator working at Canefield? All of these are pertinent questions which need answers. No person or organization in Berbice seems to want the answers. We have so many media houses in Berbice and not one correspondent has seen it fit to get to the bottom of the power crisis the region is going through. Is everyone comfortable with the current situation in Berbice? If they are, then why am I rambling and stressing myself out? I should just sit back like every Berbician and take what GPL is doing to this nation.
Well it hasn’t been two months since August 23 (the date the Skeldon Factory was commissioned) and problems have developed with the generators there.
At present, the new Kingston Power Station is being seen as the light at the end of the dark tunnel for GPL and the rest of Georgetowners. That new facility, when commissioned, is supposed to be the solution, the end to all power blackouts in the Georgetown area. Yes, finally, reliable power supply for the upcoming Christmas season! There is hope coming! The annual announcement has been made, at least for Georgetown customers. Although there was shabby power supply the entire of 2009 (like there was in 2007, 2006….), there would be excellent supply for the holidays.
Things would return to their old selves in January though. That’s the flip-side of the situation.
Guyana Chronicle November 17, 2007: “The President said that the electricity co-generation plant being developed at the new Skeldon factory will begin supplying electricity to GPL by mid-next month, providing an initial seven Megawatts. When the factory is completed next year, it will be able to supply some 14 Megawatts of power, almost the equivalent of the total peak electricity demand. With GPL being able to add this capacity to the 15 plus Megawatts it generates, the electricity
needs of the region will be met “now and forever”, the President told residents at the Skeldon Primary School, also on the Upper Corentyne.”
“Now and forever”, right, Mr President?
I have to ask: what will happen when the Kingston Power Station starts giving problems? I wonder what will be GPL’s song then.
GPL’s ‘Switch it off; Plug it Out’ campaign, in reality states that this company cannot deliver the amount of electricity the nation requires, so customers are being asked to turn off appliances.
GPL has failed Guyanese with regards to the provision of reliable and affordable electricity. It’s surprising that they are being allowed to continue to fail with the government taking no kind of action against them. Don’t blame heat waves, appliances and more housing schemes for your shortcomings GPL; you are supposed to cater for all of those things. Any prudent-thinking organization would. Don’t use the ailing and problematic generators; electricity theft; transmission and distribution problems; cash-strapped situations; fuel prices; and high demand as your popular excuses. Yes, you should’ve been able to rise out of those problems. Isn’t this a cash generating company which is earning millions of dollars every day?
Finally, nobody is looking after the concerns of Berbicians. Nobody from the power company has seen it fit to inform us truthfully as to the problem with Berbice at present. President Jagdeo was speaking to the media a few days ago. He commented on the Georgetown power outages but nothing was said about the crisis in Berbice.
Maybe if Berbicians and all Guyanese turn off their main switches, maybe then GPL would be at ease. Maybe we’ll stop hearing about rising demands, daytime and nighttime peaks, and such. Maybe then they would have enough power—all that they could ever want—to power the nation. Only thing is that they won’t have any customers to supply.
Yours faithfully,
Leon Suseran
