The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

LOAD shedding and power cuts by the Bahamas Electricity Company (BEC) have been going on for many, many years.

Every summer, this is what the Bahamian people have to look to with no solution in sight. It seems that BEC cannot meet the energy demands of the public.

With all the power cuts, it’s doing a lot of damage to equipment and appliances in a lot of businesses. It is also affecting a lot of homes, especially people who are ill with heart conditions, people who are suffering with breathing conditions, asthma and other serious illnesses. So many families are hurting and suffering, and are all suffering from the awful heat.

As soon as it thunders and rains for about 20 minutes, BEC cuts off the lights and no warning is given. Even with the new company, Bahamas Power and Light, who are supposed to help BEC make things better, BEC is still loadshedding and having power cuts with no solution in sight.

The electricity goes off for hours, sometimes for days in some areas. This is not right for the Bahamian people, who pay for their electricity bills, and especially for the tourists who come here to enjoy their visit, only to leave the island in disgust.

With all the technology in the world today, isn’t there some way to bring this awful nightmare to an end?

The Bahamas’ motto is “It’s better in The Bahamas”. When tourists visit our shores from all over the world, they expect to enjoy their stay here, but with all the loadshedding and power cuts, they leave and the tourist industry suffers. Is it better in The Bahamas as the motto says? Tourism is the bread and butter of The Bahamas.

Loadshedding and power cuts have been going on for many years, but I didn’t know how long, so I conducted research into this vexing problem. Here are my findings.

In The Nassau Guardian dated January 6, 1973, the headline reads “Loadshedding a thing of the past says PM” and the story reads “Proclaiming loadshedding a ‘thing of the past’ Prime Minister Lynden O Pindling, Friday officially opened the $15m Blue Hills Power Water Complex before a crowd of over 200 government officials and invited guests. ‘I am here, I think, to pay tribute to what must be a success story,’ said the Prime Minister, despite what he called the big ‘boo boo’ that was made in the purchase of the Fairbanks-Moore equipment that contributed to much of the electricity crisis that occurred during the years of 1967, 1968, 1969 and part of 1970.”

The Tribune the same day reads: “BEC have corrected problems and now we’re up to scratch and loadshedding is a thing of the past: PM. “We made a ‘boo boo’ and we ordered some engines that really didn’t perform up to scratch, but now we’re up to scratch and loadshedding is a thing of the past,” Prime Minister Lynden Pindling declared Friday at the official opening of the $15m Blue Hills Power-Water Complex. The period of 1967-1970 encompassed ‘The years the lights failed’ and ‘we shudder to think of them’ but with the coming online of the Blue Hills Complex’s generating power the energy crisis is over and the preliminary planning has been completed for the addition of further equipment third and fourth were cancelled.

The Tribune of January 25, 1973, reads: “PM claimed recently it would be ‘a thing of the past’ but loadshedding again after trouble at Blue Hill plant: Ever since Prime Minister Lynden Pindling declared 20 days ago that load shedding was a ‘thing of the past’ the Bahamas Electricity Corp has been doing just that - loadshedding – at irregular intervals and in widely separated areas”

The Nassau Guardian dated July 7, 1981, reads: “Power cuts jolt island economy - further, this development has occurred right at the beginning of the Ministry of Tourism’s Goombay Summer promotional programme. Tourists have reportedly packed their bags en masse, especially those on pre-packaged group tours, and left for other destinations.

The Tribune dated July 11 1981, reads: “Concern over utilities: The constant malfunctioning of the nation’s utility systems is causing citizens ‘intense concern over their and their country’s future economic welfare’, Official Opposition leader Normon Solomon told the House of Assembly. The nation’s major industry ‘tourism’ he said, has been dealt another severe and adverse blow. Thousands of vacationers who were here to enjoy a July 4th holiday soon found themselves on their way home filled with disgust and defamatory comments about the Bahamas, he said.”

The Tribune dated October 25, 1983, reads: “Dark night for PLP delegates: PLP delegates attending the opening session of the party’s national convention at the Holiday Inn hotel last night were forced to leave the convention hall around 9pm, fanning themselves frantically with their programmes, when a power failure plunged Paradise Island into darkness for about 45 minutes. Lady Pindling wilts in the heat of the Holiday Inn as the power was cut for about 45 minutes, delaying her husband’s speech by an hour, at the opening of the PLP’s 28th Annual Convention last night.”

The Tribune dated November 2, 1983, reads: “Blackout driving tourists away”. The next day it reads: “More tourists leave as PI ‘blackout’ continues”.

In The Tribune dated November 12, 1983, it reads: “Power failure closed City Market” - resulting in heavy financial losses.

In The Tribune dated October 14, 1987, it reads: “Power cut hits Nassau, House of Assembly suspended”. The power failure led to the suspension of the House of Assembly for about an hour and forced the Supreme and Magistrates Courts to operate in near darkness.

The Tribune dated August 29, 1989, reads: “BEC loadshedding to continue” - blackouts bring some businesses to their knees.

In The Tribune dated May 31, 1990, it reads: “Generator failure causes blackout over whole island: Some tourists were reported to be packing up and leaving the island because there was no power supply to many hotels. The House of Assembly was forced to suspend today because there were no lights. Telephone systems were off and the Hansard recording device was not working.”

In The Tribune dated August 13, 1990, the editorial reads: “Attitudes to power cuts: Before anyone can start to rebuild the nation, there must be a reliable power supply. Otherwise, how can a reasonable level of efficiency be attained? How can a successful tourist industry be managed and how can Nassau hope to earn a reputation as an international business centre? At the end of the day, Bahamians have to conclude that they receive very poor value for their money. However, whatever the cause of the trouble, one thing is certain, the country cannot continue to go on like this.”

The loadshedding and power cuts according to Prime Minister Lynden O Pindling began during 1967 to 1969 and part of 1970. This is what he said as reported in The Tribune dated January 6, 1973, when he declared that loadshedding is a thing of the past.

Loadshedding and power cuts have been plaguing Nassau and all of New Providence island for 49 years, and still no solution in sight. The list of stories goes on and on. Is there anywhere else in the world that has all of these power cuts - for 49 years? This is a disgrace and it’s a crying shame. The Bahamian people deserve better than this.

As I mentioned at the outset, there are Bahamians who are ill with heart conditions, breathing conditions, and those who suffer from asthma. They deserve better than this. They need their lights on all the time.

All the MPs in Parliament have their generators and live comfortably. What about the Bahamian people, don’t they deserve to be comfortable too?

In The Tribune dated July 20, 2016, it reads: “Two engines back online and power cuts on hold: In an interview with The Tribune, Corporate Communications manager Arnette Ingraham said the electricity provider is ‘doing pretty good at the moment’ but warned that the loadshedding could begin again at any time because ‘the old generators are unpredictable’. Frequent power outages this summer have angered Bahamians, some of whom complain not only of having to deal with record heat without reliable electricity but of having appliances destroyed as well because of the unpredictable power outages.”

With all due respect Mr Prime Minister, get rid of the old generators and give BEC new generators and new equipment and put a stop to loadshedding and power cuts once and for all. Don’t you think the Bahamian people deserve this after suffering this awful heat for 49 years?

I say again, it seems that BEC cannot meet the energy demands of the public!

The same day in The Tribune, it reads “Minnis hits out at lack of preparation for summer heat”. In this story it reads “so many families suffering through the hot summer, that Deputy Prime Minister (Philip Davis) told Bahamians, “be patient ,we will have an answer soon”.

With all due respect Mr Deputy Prime Minister, haven’t the Bahamian people been patient for the last 49 years?

And The Tribune dated August 16, 2016, reads “Rental generators arrive to end load shedding - The first set of rental generators secured for Bahamas Power and Light have arrived and Bahamas Electrical Workers Union president Paul Maynard said the utility provider will no longer be loadshedding”.

With all due respect, this is what Prime Minister Lynden O Pindling said back in 1973, 43 years ago that “loadshedding is a thing of the past” as recorded by The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune on January 6, 1973.

I’ve spoken to many Bahamians regarding this awful situation and they are all angry and frustrated. When will it end?

The VAT tax, isn’t this supposed to decrease the national debt? The national debt is increasing instead of decreasing. Where is the money going?

When MPs take an entourage of people on Government business on their trips around the world, shouldn’t they give an accounting of what money is spent? Also, if any MP travels alone on government business around the world, isn’t he or she supposed to give an account to the Bahamian people what money was spent on their trips? They are travelling on the people’s money.

The Bahamian people need the government and all MPs in Parliament to show transparency, accountability and trust when dealing with the people’s money and how they are spending it.

In The Tribune dated October 30, 1991, Fred Mitchell, who was the leader in the People’s Democratic Force, wanted Prime Minister Lynden Pindling to give an account of his trip to Africa. “It is our view that this trip was largely a waste of time, atgreat public expense. We are reliably informed that some 19 persons were in the Prime Minister’s party.”

Several government ministers have already visited Africa, and you yourself, Mr Mitchell, have done so on several occasions.

With all due respect, Mr Mitchell, you wanted Prime Minister Lynden Pindling in 1991 to a give an account of his trip to Africa.

Shouldn’t you and all the ministers that went to Africa give an account of their trips to Africa? After all, you are all travelling on the taxpayer’s money and the Bahamian people have a right to know what you are doing with their money.

That’s why the Bahamian people need “The Freedom of Information Act” and see how their money is being spent. The Bahamian people need the government to provide “The Freedom of Information Act” legislation to show transparency and accountability.

Millions of dollars are being spent on the Carnival. $21,351,507 will be spent to construct a baseball stadium as recorded in The Tribune Sports pages on July 19, 2016.

Why not use some of this money to fix BEC’s troubles with new equipment and bring loadshedding and power cuts to an end? The article on building the stadium, reads “A breath of fresh air”.

With all due respect, Mr Prime Minister, what about “a breath of fresh air” for the Bahamian people who have suffered and still are suffering for the past 49 years in loadshedding and power cuts?

The spending of the taxpayers’ money on trips all over the world, and the VAT tax in the millions could alleviate the national debt and solve the BEC loadshedding crisis.

Even if BEC is loadshedding and leaving the Bahamian people in darkness for hours and sometimes for days, don’t you think there should be some compensation towards our BEC bill. Why do we have to pay the full amount when this problem is not the Bahamian people’s fault?

Stop unnecessary spending and apply it to fix BEC’s troubles and bring relief to the Bahamian people.

Furthermore, The Bahamas celebrated 43 years of Independence on July 10 this year. Should the Bahamian people still suffer from loadshedding, power cuts and blackouts after all these years from the awful summer heat which is getting worse?

Mr Christie, I’ve heard some troubling and disturbing news from the Bahamian people - that the government is planning to allow a Chinese bank to buy $250m worth of mortgages and if the people cannot pay the bank, they will foreclose on the properties and the bank will take the properties for much less than they are worth.

The Bahamian people want to know if you are selling The Bahamas to the Chinese people, is this true or not?

Mr Christie, may Almighty God continue to bless and protect the Bahamas and its people, is my sincere prayer.

TONY G ZERVOS

Nassau

August 28, 2016.