The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

An island-wide blackout that struck Cat Island during the Labour Day weekend left vendors counting losses and disrupted one of the island's most important annual economic events, with one business owner describing the outage as a "tragic moment" for those who depend on the Rake and Scrape Festival to earn income.

Vince McDonald, owner of Curly's Beach Resort, said his business was able to weather the outage thanks to emergency lighting and an established customer base, but many festival vendors were not as fortunate.

"I can't say the same for everybody," said Mr McDonald. "I'm an institution, so I have a brand. I don't depend on setting up a stall at the festival.

"People on the island look forward to that weekend to make money. That's how they do."

He added: "I think it was a tragic moment for them with the lights being off."

The outage occurred during the final night of the Cat Island Rake and Scrape Festival, an event that annually attracts visitors from throughout The Bahamas and provides a significant boost for local businesses, vendors and entrepreneurs.

Mr McDonald said many stall operators suffered substantial losses as a result of the power failure.

"Those people with stalls and booths suffered drastically," he said.

While Curly's Beach Resort also lost electricity, Mr McDonald said the business remained open.

"We were without power, but I had emergency lighting and other backup lights in place, so people stayed around and enjoyed themselves because that was really the only place to go," he said.

"The electricity was down, but it wasn't a major issue for us. We still pushed through. Everybody stayed, and we still did well. We have a very comfortable environment and there were a lot of people there."

The outage also disrupted media coverage of the festival.

Jamaal Rodgers, better known as DJ XcitEmnt of 100 Jamz, said the station had planned to cover the final night of the festival but was unable to do so because of the island-wide blackout.

"It was brutal," said Mr Rodgers. "The electricity went off around 8 pm and when we left the next morning it was still off."

He added: "We couldn't do it that night because it was an island-wide blackout. We couldn't go to the Rake and Scrape Festival on Saturday night and broadcast because we had no power at all."

Mr Rodgers said darkness and safety concerns prevented his team from returning to the festival grounds.

"We were supposed to return to the festival for the final night, but we couldn't," he said. "There was no power where we were staying, and the road was completely dark. There are no lights along that stretch, so it was pitch black."

According to Bahamas Power and Light, the outage stemmed from a generation shortfall involving problems with the CI1 generation unit's turbocharger and the CI2 breaker.

The utility implemented an eight-hour rotational power schedule between the island's north and south feeders while repairs were carried out. Customers south of New Bight Airport remained without electricity as crews worked to restore service.

BPL later advised that replacement parts and a technical support team had been dispatched from Nassau to assist with repairs. The utility subsequently restored the North Feeder as far as Arthur's Town and continued restoration efforts across the island.

Throughout the outage, BPL repeatedly apologized to consumers and said crews were working to restore normal service as quickly and safely as possible.

For many Cat Island residents, however, the outage overshadowed what is typically one of the year's busiest weekends.

"You want everybody to benefit, particularly during a moment like that," said Mr McDonald. "That's what they were looking forward to."