Bradford urges Bartica residents to be patient – as Gov’t seeks to address power issues

GINA, GUYANA, Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Gordon Bradford, the Region Seven Chairman has commended government’s intervention in bringing relief to residents of Bartica.

Speaking with the Government Information Agency (GINA), Bradford said the new generator that will be sent to the Region will bring relief from power outages to the township’s residents while they await the green energy project.

Bradford expressed gratitude to Ministers of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson and Annette Ferguson for working assiduously “and seeking to have one or two brand new sets that would benefit us in the meantime.”

Bradford asserted that it is unfortunate that the three units were damaged at the same time, but it was expected since the units are age old. He explained that though the situation may not be addressed overnight and must go through a process, with government’s intervention, the township will benefit from improved electricity distribution.

“I think that the generators will not solve the problem entirely, but it will put us in a position where we would not have a four or five- hour interruption in the supply of power,” Bradford said.

The Regional Chairman, alluding to the 30 hours of black out recently in the region, said it was devastating to residents, but he appreciates the efforts of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) workers. He noted that often persons disregard the hard work of the GPL employees but, “I’ll take this opportunity to take my hats off to those persons working with GPL, they really do a lot which we don’t understand because they are all living in Bartica. I think they would not want to subscribe to us having blackouts because when they’re at the power station and there is blackout their family members at home are in blackout and suffering too.”

Bradford appealed to the residents to continue to be patient with the government as it works diligently to transform the township from fossil fuel to green energy even though it will take time.

Last month the Bartica Township was plagued with 30 hours of blackout due to the damaged generation units. According to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon at a recent post-Cabinet briefing, “engine one had a radiator problem due to overheating, engine two, a suspected cylinder problem, the third one had a piston issue…”

Minister Harmon also announced that new generation equipment will be installed in the township shortly.

 

 

By: Ranetta La Fleur