The Tribune

By Fay Simmons

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

At the Prime Minister’s weekly press briefing yesterday, Deputy Press Secretary Keishla Adderley said the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) has determined that a new generator at the cost of $88,000 is needed at the new wellfield site in North Andros.

Water and Sewerage stations around North Andros were also impacted by the fire that engulfed the Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) plant in Andros earlier this week.

Ms Adderley noted that WSC has been working to restore water to the affected settlement and that most customers have had their water issues resolved. She added that a new generator will be needed to resolve the issue long term.

She said: “I also want to update you on the situation in Andros. The fire as you know, which took place there yesterday, also had an impact on the generation of water on the island. The water and sewage Corporation has been working around the clock and across the settlements. There was either the interruption of power, I think, maybe just one settlement affected by that now.

“But otherwise, generators were placed on those settlements for temporary generation power. And in the final analysis, the wellfields, as you may know, were also affected by this situation. And it’s been determined that a new generator at a cost of about $88,000 is being proposed. That new generator will have to be put in place to completely resolve the issue of their water generation.”

Gregory Stubbs, Assistant General Manager of WSC, released a summary report on the impact of the North Andros BPL Power Station fire to WSC operations yesterday. It revealed that a generator contractor from PGS General went to North Andros to evaluate the generator.

“The power at the main new Andros wellfields was affected and without power for several hours,” the report said.

“The Mechanical and Electrical Maintenance Department arranged to have generator contractor PGS General Ltd travel to Andros to check the generator at the new wellfield site. The generator at that site is an aged unit and was not initially operable.”

The report went on to explain that the generator had radiator issues soon after it was serviced leading to the wellfield remaining out of service at this time.

“The generator was serviced and brought on line. However, soon after, that unit failed due to and old and damaged radiator. The radiator was removed and sent to Nassau for repairs. That wellfield remains out of service at this time.”

The report also noted that future actions for the wellfield include replacing the generator and advised that personnel will continue commuting to North Andros to continue generator and electrical work and that a generator will be sent to the Nichol’s Town office to provide temporary power for the office.

“It has been determined to replace the generator unit at the new wellfield site. A preliminary quote received indicate a purchase cost of $88,000,” the report added.

“Supervisor York Butler will travel from Nassau to North Andros to carry out additional generator and electrical works.”

“A small standby generator will be provided for the rental offices at Nichol’s town.”