The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Works Minister Desmond Bannister said the protocol for maintaining Bahamas Power & Light’s Wartsila engines changed under the Davis administration –– one reason why load shedding has been needed this summer.

He accused the Davis administration of neglecting BPL through inadequate investments and poor maintenance practices.

 He said: “I’ll give you an example –– there are new engines that were under contract for maintenance by Wartsila, which is the company that made them. It’s just like when you buy a new car, you buy a new car, and if you buy a Ford, you’re gonna take it to Ford to maintain.

 “You’re gonna take it to Toyota because that’s your new car. You’re not gonna take it to a bush mechanic, but the government did not renew the Wartsila maintenance contract and what they did is they hired a whole bunch of independent contractors who had worked for Wartsila to maintain the engines and as a result, they’re not getting the results that they should get because they don’t have the manufacturer of those engines in maintaining them.”

 “We have third parties maintaining engines. That is wrong, and that is very, very disappointing so that’s the first challenge that they face, and that is something that is caused by them, a problem they created.”

 In 2019, BPL acquired seven Wartsila engines to address long-term generation capacity issues, leading then chairman Dr Donovan Moxey to declare an end to the era of load shedding.

 However, BPL CEO Shevonn Cambridge said last week that auxiliary systems were needed to support the effective use of the Wartsila engines. He said the auxiliaries need an upgrade.

 “Just like everything else, you are about as strong as your weakest link and now the plan is to try and upgrade the auxiliaries to support those engines,” he said.

 However, Mr Bannister insisted the engines’ problems should not exist, saying they are among the most efficient in the world.

 “The only shortcoming they have in relation to auxiliaries are created by BPL not doing their work, not doing what they should have done, not preparing properly,” he said, adding he understands two Wartsila engines were down recently.

 “You know you gon’ have heavy loads,” said Mr Bannister, “so I don’t know why I hear the general manager speaking about maintenance in the summertime. That maintenance of those engines should have gone on during the winter. It should’ve been ready for summer, they haven’t done it properly.”