Lethem residents still in dark as to when power woes will end

A week after the main power plant went down residents of Lethem are still in the dark as to what exactly went wrong with the generator and when normal power supply will resume.

“Dem people ain’t telling us anything,” a resident told Stabroek News yesterday. Two Thursdays ago, the main generator which supplied electricity to the growing town on the Guyana-Brazil border encountered difficulties and power has been rationed since with different areas receiving power for five hours followed by 10 hours without electricity.

“We still out of water, we still out of power,” President of the Rupununi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), Jacqueline D’Aguiar told Stabroek News yesterday. “I’m just tired of the situation,” she added.

She said that the Lethem Power Company has not informed residents of the nature of the problem or when normal supply will resume and the only information made public is a sign at the power company’s office. “That is the only thing…if you don’t go there you don’t know,” she said.

D’Aguiar said she had learnt that normal power supply was expected to resume on Friday but this was not the case and she has also learnt that attempts are being made to source a part from Boa Vista, Brazil. She said the power shortage is affecting residents and businesses negatively as they depend on electricity for everything.  “One old faithful engine is there…it look like is the one engine doing the same five hours all around,” she observed.

The RCCI president said that they do not blame the ground staff for the issues. It is clear, she said, that the generator cannot supply enough power to the community particularly at peak hours. She was hopeful that power could be restored by today. She said everyone is trying to buy generators but when they are switched on, there is a lot of noise.

“You can’t keep nothing in the fridge so we punishing here,” another Lethem resident told Stabroek News. “They say something wrong with the turbo,” he said adding that the power company has not officially informed residents of what is wrong. They could have at least used a mobile public address system to update residents, he said.

Earlier this week, residents said that since Monday they have only been receiving ten hours of electricity as a mechanical problem had developed in the new engine that was donated by the government last year to provide round-the-clock power.

A source close to the Lethem Power Company had told Stabroek News that the engine was down on Monday due to mechanical problems. The source also said that the problem was only identified on Tuesday and the engine was then taken to Brazil for repairs on Wednesday because it is closer and cheaper.

The installation of the new part to solve the mechanical problem is expected to be finished by Friday but the source had added that experts from Georgetown will have to travel up to install it. The mechanical problem is not a result of negligence on the part of the workers, the source stated while adding that these problems do arise from time to time.

As a result of the ongoing electricity problems, the water supply to nearby villages was also disrupted, since immediately after power is cut off, the water goes too. Lethem residents have been complaining of insufficient amounts of electricity for several years now owing to the constant breaking down of the generator.