The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FLOODING and damaged distribution systems remain a problem for Bahamas Electricity Corporation officials in their attempts at restoring power to some of the islands hit hardest by Hurricane Joaquin last week.

BEC, in its latest update on its restoration efforts, said flooding in Crooked Island has made it “difficult” for its teams to access certain areas of the island. To make matters worse, BEC said that “very few” of the buildings on Crooked Island are “capable” of being supplied with electricity “even if the generation and distribution systems were fully restored.”

The statement said that Crooked Island’s distribution system suffered “major damage” and would be “very costly” to repair as a result of Hurricane Joaquin. In this regard, BEC said a “cost effective approach” to providing power to customers in Crooked Island “must be considered.”

A similar situation also exists on Long Island, BEC said, where attempts to restore power have been “impeded by the condition of the roads and persistent flooding in the southern parts of the island.” However, officials said power has been restored from Seymour’s Settlement to Salt Pond. Damaged poles between Salt Pond and Deadman’s Cay have also been replaced, BEC said.

BEC said it expects additional help with its Family Island restoration process from the Caribbean Association of Electric Utilities (CARILEC). The corporation said a team of CARILEC officials will be deployed to one of the affected islands “early next week.”

Meanwhile, BEC said yesterday that power has been restored to the “majority” of customers on Acklins, with supplies reaching as far south as Pompey Bay and just south of Chester’s Bay in the north. However, the corporation noted that crews are still “challenged” as the land bridge between Chester’s and Lovely Bay was “washed out during the storm.”

Additionally, officials said the Lovely Bay area, which is in need of a “more detailed assessment,” is still inaccessible due to flooding.

In Long Cay, BEC said most of the repair work will involve “repairing overhead lines that came down during the storm.”

The generation network on Rum Cay is “operational”, BEC said. However, “considerable work” needs to be done to fully restore power to residences and businesses. The statement said a team and material are being mobilized to further expedite the restoration process.

In San Salvador, BEC said its officials have been working to repair the engines that were damaged during the storm. This, BEC said, is being done concurrently with pole planting on the island’s north and south feeders.

“The expectation is that once the generation units are back online they would be in a good position to begin restoring supply to homes and businesses,” the statement said.

Regarding both Rum Cay and San Salvador, BEC Chairman Leslie Miller said earlier this week that power could be fully restored to those islands in as little as 10 days. He said this depended on the government moving with haste to hire subcontractors to “get the job done as quickly as possible.”

“If we could get those, I’d say within 10 days we could restore power totally to Rum Cay as well as San Salvador,” he told The Tribune. “It’s just a matter of getting the equipment which should be here by (yesterday) and mobilizing the men, and giving them all the equipment that they need, and they’ll get it done.”