The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A prominent businessman yesterday said he was “a little dismayed by the slowness” in restoring New Providence’s electricity supply, and urged Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) to better communicate its progress.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, Superwash’s president, told Tribune Business that much frustration would be eased if the monopoly utility provider gave Bahamians a clear idea of its restoration plans.

He explained that this would give the public some idea of when their supply would be reconnected in the wake of Hurricane Matthew’s passage, and confidence that the ‘new BEC’ had clear programmes, objectives and timelines in place.

“I’m a little dismayed at the slowness of the restoration,” the former Chamber of Commerce president told Tribune Business of BPL’s post-Matthew efforts.

“Maybe they are out there, I don’t know. I drive through my neighbourhood and see no poles or wires down. I see very few crews on the road. Driving between 10 [Superwash] locations, I don’t get the feeling there are tonnes of [BPL] people on the road.”

Mr D’Aguilar was speaking to Tribune Business as he went “foraging” for diesel for his home generator. Based on BPL’s plan to reconnect the greatest number of customers at a time, and his neighbourhood’s relatively sparse population, the businessman estimated it would take seven to 10 days for his power to be restored.

“BEC should do a much better job of reporting its restoration efforts,” Mr D’Aguilar told Tribune Business. “They should have a map that’s colour-coded to show where they are going next.

“We currently have no idea. We don’t know if they’re progressing. It would be good if they held a press conference every day to update people on what’s going on, put it on Facebook and What’s App; just get the information out.

“It would take away a lot of complaints if people knew there was a plan and a programme.”

BPL’s restoration efforts yesterday came under fire from both Leslie Miller, the last executive chairman under the ‘old BEC’ structure, and Paul Maynard, president of the union that represents the utility’s line staff (see news section).

Both criticised the pace at which BPL is making progress, suggesting it would have been much faster under the ‘old BEC’, and claiming that the utility’s efforts lacked sufficient manpower (help from outside contractors) and co-ordination.

BPL, though, has said it is dealing with numerous wires downed by Matthew, while the devastation and proximity of surrounding tree branches has complicated efforts to rebuild its transmission and distribution network.

Electricity supply is now the single biggest issue impacting post-Matthew recovery efforts on both New Providence and Grand Bahama.

It is vital to the provision of water supply, and the ability of businesses to protect themselves from looters and thieves with electronic security systems. It is also key to the restoration of many of Nassau’s traffic lights, which have been out of action since the storm, causing vehicular chaos on the streets.

Mr D’Aguilar said just three of his 10 Superwash locations had BPL power on Monday, leaving him “to assume” that 70 per cent of New Providence was then without power using this “unscientific approach”.

He added that the absence of electricity supply had also contributed to the gas station queues at the weekend, as businesses and homeowners had been forced to restock with diesel to run their generators.

Mr D’Aguilar said his 10 laundromats required a total 1,680 gallons of diesel per day to keep running, while BISX-listed AML Foods, for which he is chairman, needed around 2,500 gallons.