By RICARDO WELLS
Tribune Staff Reporter
rwells@tribunemedia.net
LAST weekend’s island-wide blackout is the result of “third world thinkers refusing to look at modern options,” Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney said yesterday.
The former Bamboo Town representative called it a “crying shame” that Bahamians are being “forced to rely on old generators and expensive fuel” to power the country when there are many other “modern options.”
Mr McCartney said the time has come for government to consider alternative energy options. He said successive governments have had overtures from private companies and public committees on alternative energy sources but have continued to force Bahamian citizens to “brave the worst.”
He said the fact that citizens cannot fully equip their homes with solar energy technology is “archaic”.
“During my time in public office, I have seen first-hand a number of presentations on what it would take to fix our energy production issues. There has been the solar energy plan that has been shelved by both governments. We have both the wind power and the waste-to-energy options that we can look into.
“I equate the recent power outages with our government spending $230m on vessels for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. With all of that money spent on vessels, our issues with drug smuggling, gun trafficking and human trafficking still persist.”
That $232m could have been invested in effective drone technology that would have needed limited manpower, Mr McCartney suggested.
“Bahamians have to understand that there is more than what we have been given so far, there is so much more the Bahamas can achieve. These are the leaders that can’t use computers, send emails or texts. It’s 2015, it’s time to come out of the Dark Ages and build a modern Bahamas free of regressive thinkers.
“These third world thinkers are the reason we haven’t had any new industries in the past 15 years because they are still caught up (with) a tourism product that isn’t working.”
The island lost power Friday around 2pm after a fire started at the Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s (BEC) Blue Hills Power Station.
Some parts of the island had power restored on Friday night and BEC engaged in load shedding over the weekend. However, some residents complained that they were without power for more than 30 consecutive hours.
BEC said all customers had power restored as of Sunday night, however there were reports that some people still did not have electricity.
BEC Executive Chairman Leslie Miller revealed on Sunday that this weekend’s “catastrophic” incident will cost taxpayers half a million dollars to repair damaged equipment and recover money lost by the corporation because it was not supplying power to consumers.
Mr Miller also said that the entire ordeal could have easily been prevented if employees had done their job and properly maintained the plant.
Mr Miller said the fire started after an “overloaded wire” came into contract with oil that had dripped into the trenches at the Blue Hills Power Station.
Comments
banker 9 years, 8 months ago
The trouble is that Bran doesn't practice what he preaches. At the outset of his DNA party launch, he said that he was democratically elected as leader. He was a self-appointed dictator who shaded the truth, and that is totally Third World Thinking.
The other stuff is just too wild to contemplate. It the government bought drones, the RBDF officers would use them to spy on their sweethearts.
The overloaded wire story is fantastic to say the least. Is Leslie Miller telling us, the wire was so overloaded that it could ignite some oil casually left lying around in a trench. Is there much of this oil floating in Clifton in the trenches and on the floors? And the overloaded wire must have been glowing red hot, like a toaster element. Bunker C crude which is what Clifton burns, is hard to light unless you have open ignition like a flame, and not just a hot wire. Something doesn't jive.
While all of this stuff -- the Bran circus, the Miller Circus, the BEC circus, the semi-braindead but still loquacious and unintelligible prime minister circus -- it is all pretty funny except that it is our country that they are jerking around.
Somehow it all seems like a bad dream, and I landed in the land of lying retards.
TalRussell 9 years, 8 months ago
Comrade Bran inspires us to at minimum to engage in the separatism conversation from the Commonwealth. The question must be asked, if our politicians are so dedicated toward the foreignization of our Bahamaland, then why not thwart their eventual objective by taking the first giant leaps to align with the USA?
sansoucireader 9 years, 8 months ago
Does the USA want us to align with them? They've got enough issues with some of their own, why would they want us as a territory or another state?
TalRussell 9 years, 8 months ago
Comrade Sanssoucireader but are you, for an a real conservation to begin for a alignment with the USA?
TheMadHatter 9 years, 8 months ago
Time for Action
http://user463836.websitewizard.com/">Click Here
and that's the Mad Hatter talkin, and you know where I stand.
TheMadHatter
John 9 years, 8 months ago
Seems like all the action packed radical thinking protesting enough is enough people on the government side. Erryone urchin an moaning but no one wants to do nothin
avidreader 9 years, 7 months ago
It is refreshing to see that the DNA has continued to exist after its experience in the 2012 General Election. As I told one of its tearful candidates after the votes had been counted, they must persevere election after election if they hope to gain power one day. No party in existence in this country ever won an election on the first attempt. Of course, their platform must be finely crafted, rigidly adhered to and they must raise sufficient funds between elections to give them a fighting chance when the next election rolls around. Who knows, the day might come when they are invited to form part of a coalition government if they have won a sufficient number of seats in the House of Assembly.
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