Port Kaituma, in Region One, has been without electricity for a week and the Port Kaituma Power and Light Company (PKPL) has announced that residents should brace themselves for another two weeks without electricity. In a notice posted on the company’s Facebook page, the disruption of the power supply was blamed on a major mechanical issue.
“PKPL wishes to inform its customers that as a result of [a] major mechanical issue, power should be restored within two weeks. PKPL sincerely regrets all inconveniences caused,” the notice posted stated.
Stabroek News has been told that the engine of one of the PKPL generators has been experiencing mechanical issues, resulting in the outage.
Shem Cuffy, Regional Councillor for the Port Kaituma district, told Stabroek News that he was informed that a part from the engine has to be replaced. He noted that it is almost two weeks since they have been experiencing the power outage. “The generator is not able to supply the village with electricity. They had tried to give outlying areas power and cut off the waterfront but the generator was not working,” Cuffy said.
He noted that two engineers were flown into the village to look at the mechanical issue but were unable to rectify the fault.
He explained that there are four generators at the power house in the village and after enquiries he learnt that none of the four is functioning. He suggested another generator is procured for back up purposes.
Most residents and businesses have turned to generators for power supply in the mining community. The business community on the waterfront of the village, Cuffy said, is currently reliant on generators to power their appliances and businesses.
According to Cuffy, the issue at hand is becoming unbearable since fuel prices in the village are climbing.
“Prices for fuel are at $1,300 to $1,500 per gallon now. The shortage of fuel and the demand for it is sending up the price. I don’t know how long we the residents will be able to purchase fuel for our generators,” the councilor stressed.Another resident told Stabroek News that because of the shortage of fuel in the village, they have to pay the price being asked for fuel to operate their generators.
“It is not easy for us right now. A five gallon of gas is like $7,000 that is a lot for us at this time. We have grown so accustomed to light it is hard to not have light at nights. I don’t understand how they can allow all the generators to go down at once and let us suffer like this,” the resident told Stabroek News.
