Free National Movement (FNM) Chairman Sidney Collie said it is too late for the government to rectify the generation issues at Bahamas Power and Light (BPL).
Mr. Collie charged that the government had not done its “homework” before it engaged the partnership of BPL.
“This is a company that was in a position financially with the human resources to move into the old BEC (Bahamas Electricity Corporation) with a plan of reorganisation and restructuring for the generation and distribution of power throughout this country. We are satisfied based on what we have seen over the last few months that that has not taken place,” Mr. Collie said.
Mr. Collie said that Bahamians have “had it up to their necks” with the deficiencies in power services in recent months.
Alluding to Deputy Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis’ recent statement regarding the issue, Mr. Collie charged that the DPM provided no answers and offered no solutions to the problem.
The FNM chairman said a modern, comprehensive energy plan is needed as he noted that his party is in the process of preparing one.
“We want to see a plan, a policy embedding a plan where the government is going to present to the Bahamian people and to BPL; not just the old generators, broke down generators from the ice age. We want to see a modern plan dealing with all of the available forces of energy – a combination of all of them, so that the Bahamian public can begin to rely on and depend on reliable electricity services,” Mr. Collie added.
During the early summer months, residents and businesses experienced consistent massive blackouts, but this trend had temporarily died down until recent weeks.
BPL’s Corporate Communications Manager Arnette Ingraham said earlier this week that the company is looking to bring several rental generators online in an effort to rectify the problem.
The company is presently undergoing a maintenance programme in hopes of improving service.
Mrs. Ingraham explained that the programme will take some time due to the extensive work to be completed on engines.
She assured that with a revamp of these engines, there will be a major reduction in the number of power outages.
