The Tribune

Leandra Rolle

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister Peter Turnquest said yesterday the government has received positive feedback from utility companies in Grand Bahama concerning the restoration process on the storm impacted island.

Ever since Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the island in early September, communities in Grand Bahama have been plagued with several issues.

Electricity, for example, have not yet been restored to residents in eastern Grand Bahama while water quality also remains a problem after the 20ft storm surge affected more than 200 of the island's well fields, resulting in salty tap water.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, the finance minister said the government was "working feverishly" to have power quickly restored to the eastern part of Grand Bahama to return some sort of normalcy to residents there.

This came after he admonished the power supplier over the lack of power in the eastern community in December, urging company officials to move faster in re-electrifying the island's east end post Hurricane Dorian. "Since that time, we've received some positive feedback from both utility companies," Mr Turnquest told reporters yesterday, while giving an update on the recovery efforts on the island.

"The electrical company has indicated that they are now going to extend the transmission lines out as far as Equinor in the first stage and work the service back from there towards the Freeport area."

"That will give electricity to the major settlements in the East End and then we will look at how we extend the transmission lines out to McClean's Town and Sweeting's Cay."

"Whether we run the lines in the interim or whether we drop a generator in the community, itself to be able to provide temporary supply to those areas anyway.

"So that is very positive news and certainly an improvement in the picture that we were faced with before the end of the year. So, we do want to thank the power company for acceding to our requests in that regard."

As it relates to the restoration of water distribution on the island, Mr Turnquest said officials are hoping to have the quality of water greatly improved by May or June.

"The water utility company has also indicated that they are working on dropping a few more wells in some freshwater reservoirs that they've found on the island and hopefully, that will help to reduce the salinity in the water," he said.

"And, I think the hydrologists have indicated that by about May or June we should start to see a significant increase in the quality of the portable water. "

He continued: "We are sensitive and are certainly presenting the case of the residents of Grand Bahama to the utility company that they feel that the charge or the utility company charging for this water that is not portable water may be unfair."

"And, we are certainly having that discussion that the utility companies is offering a discount on the water, but nonetheless the residents do have a position rightfully so, that if they are not able to cook and drink with the water than there really ought to be a deeper discount than 25 per cent."

"And so, we continue to have those conversations to see if we could come to an amicable resolution to that."