Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar suggested yesterday that business owners should consider adding standby generators to their business plans.

D’Aguilar made this suggestion while commenting on the recent string of load shedding exercises in the capital and its possible impact on the tourism industry. 

“Naturally, we’re concerned when the power goes off and it impacts our hotel infrastructure and persons who are in the Airbnb business.  But most businesses, especially on the island of New Providence and most hotels, would have standby generators in place to mitigate the loss of power,” he said.

“A loss of power can happen for many reasons. It can be for load shedding, lightening strikes, or people running into poles. Given the fact that we’re an island, means that we are not connected to a grid like that of South Florida. If they lose a generator, they can simultaneously switch to another generator.

“So, given the fact that we’re on an island, it makes us susceptible to power loss, and as a result, unfortunately, you really have to build a standby generator into you business plan.”

D’Aguilar’s suggestion follows a power outage this past Tuesday at the British Colonial Hilton hotel, lasting eight hours. 

Minister of Public Works Desmond Banister recently blamed the historic generation shortfall and transmission challenges on the ageing or obsolete equipment. 

He assured that Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) is currently addressing the generation challenge by connecting seven 18.5 megawatt Wartsilla engines to the system by the end of 2019.

It is anticipated that these engines will provide reliable generation for the island of New Providence.