The vexing load-shedding issue at Bahamas Power and Light is a ‘crisis,’ according to Bahamas Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard, who is now calling on the government to invest $100 million to assist with the effective operation of the power plant.
“What needs to happen is the CEO needs to recognize that this is a crisis that we’re in, accept it, stop running away from it,” Maynard said during an interview with The Bahama Journal yesterday, adding that as a result of the load-shedding crisis, BPL employees are “over-taxed to the max” and there is a staff shortage.
“This is no fun for us to be doing,” Maynard said. “You in a crisis. They’re running on telling people about the engine will be ready in October. These new engines. That won’t happen. But since the white man say it, fine. But it will be ready in December that’s more of a realistic situation.
“But the fact is we will be load shedding off and on until October, November. We in a crisis so what you need to do, is you need to accept that and work with it and ask the government for $100 million in order to operate properly.
“Right now, we are operating on a very thin shoestring budget because every penny is going down to Clifton Pier to deal with the engines and nothing is left to operate around town.
“We can’t even get money to fix the trucks for the guys to go out to work. So, guys go out in little cars to do what they have to do. But you can’t neglect your distribution customers in order for you to put a show on down at Clifton Pier. That is not the way to operate the company and you need to say to the government, we need operating money down here.”
Earlier this week BPL promised that $2 million rental generators are expected to bring relief to the load-shedding issue. But Maynard said the rental company Aggreko is not fulfilling all of its promises.
“They are spending a mint to rent those generators,” Maynard said. “This is why they should be very annoyed with Aggreko. Aggreko came in here and supposed to have given them an additional 25 megawatts and that would have covered them.
“We wouldn’t have had a weekend like this weekend if Aggreko had done what they were supposed to do. Aggreko was supposed to be in here and they would have supposed to deliver between the 4th of June and the 11th. They were supposed to be running with 25 megawatts and they were not. They kept moving the bar and kept blaming employees.
“Everything is ready for them now. They are not on yet. This is a problem. They are not doing anything for us for free. We are paying an absolute mint to have them here they need to get with the program.
“We need to say, ‘Look here man get with it or carry you and all your damn machines out this country.’”
