The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TALL Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday criticised Bahamas Power and Light Company Ltd saying the electricity provider has failed to properly coordinate efforts in a timely manner to restore the supply to residents in New Providence, pointing to the use of a “skeleton crew” to tackle the wide range of needed repairs in the capital.

Mr Miller said BPL should have been able to reconnect customers in about two to three days after Hurricane Matthew’s passing. However some residents in New Providence have been left without power for about a week, beginning when Matthew first touched down on the island last Wednesday.

He attributed this lengthy and “unacceptable” time period to BPL’s decision to veer away from the model to remedy issues caused by hurricanes, which was adopted by the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) before it transitioned to BPL.

The former BEC executive chairman said this involved employing the work of local subcontractors to assist permanent BEC staff in making the needed repairs. However, he said in the aftermath of Matthew, BPL has refused to do this.

On Saturday, BPL’s CEO Pamela Hill said 150 BPL workers were conducting the restoration efforts and were working 16-hour shifts to complete the work.

This week, BPL said it expected to ramp up restoration efforts significantly, explaining that it had sought assistance from international and local partners. The foreign body sourced for help, a BPL press statement said, is the Caribbean Association of Electric Utilities (CARILEC). BPL said CARILEC was expected to send at least three teams to the island. The first team will arrive today, BPL said.

“It’s just a matter of coordination and getting it right,” Mr Miller said yesterday when he was contacted. “This would be their first time dealing with this and they have failed to coordinate. But you know, they are running the show.

“Many of BPL’s staff have called me who are normally on the team so they are obviously dealing with a skeleton staff. I am also told that they are offering subcontractors $50 an hour, take it or leave it. The fellas are not going to work for no $50 an hour so that’s also part of the problem I am told.

“But you know they are there (and) it is their responsibility, but it’s time for them to get it right. If we bring in foreigners that’s going to be prohibitively expensive and I hope it is not their goal to try to rip off the Bahamian people and do as much as they can to take money outside the country with these exorbitant fees by trying to bring in their people to fix lines that we can do ourselves easy with no problems at all.”

“The last hurricane we had was much more severe than this,” Mr Miller added. “There were less than 150 BEC poles down (so) this should have been rectified in two or three days, but they haven’t called out the manpower and haven’t given out contracts to the local contractors that we normally deal with.”

“Obviously there is some confusion as to who the hell is in charge, but that’s their headache not mine so whatever the hell they do is fine.”

Mr Miller’s rebuke of BPL came as the company said it was making steady progress in New Providence, estimating that “just over 50,000 of its 80,000” residential customer connections had been restored.

In a press statement, BPL said they not only appreciate, but understands the frustration of local residents who have been without power supply in some cases for a week.

The press statement read: “Bahamas Power and Light Company Limited (BPL) is making steady progress in New Providence following Hurricane Matthew.

“So far, BPL has restored supply to more than half of its residential customers on the island and supply has also been restored to the majority of the company’s commercial customers. BPL estimates that just over 50,000 of its 80,000 residential connections have been restored and the company is moving aggressively to have the vast majority of customers back on supply by the end of the week.”

It went on: “Company officials say they not only appreciate but fully understand the frustration of local residents who have been without supply, in some cases, for a week. Efforts are underway to ramp up the restoration progress by using local support as well as assistance from other Caribbean utilities and BPL’s management company-PowerSecure. International help arrives on the island on Wednesday.”

In the meantime BPL continues to encourage customers who may experience supply issues once their service has been restored to turn off their main breaker switch and contact BPL’s emergency numbers 323-5561 or 302-1800.