The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Bahamas Power & Light’s (BPL) line staff union leader yesterday said he has not been inside Clifton Pier’s ‘Station A’ power plant for years.

Kyle Wilson, the Bahamas Electrical Workers Union’s (BEWU) president, told Tribune Business he has “never set foot” inside the facility despite all the controversy surrounding the plant, is alleged structural deficiencies and potential danger his members may face from spalling, which is pieces of concrete falling off the walls and buildings.

Mr Wilson said: “I never stepped foot in there (Station A) and never was invited to. They had it gated off from BPL employees from even going over there.

“Respect for the BEWU is something they are trying to bring back to BPL, because respect for union leaders like myself that represent the energy sector and are in the energy sector, and I work at BPL, someone should have seen it fit to invite the president to show him this great thing that they have going on.”

Mr Wilson said he cannot make any comment about the situation his members now face at ‘Station A’, which houses 132 Mega Watts (MW) of generation capacity from the seven Wartsila engines, because he knows “very little” about the inputs that went into the facility. However, he is “optimistic” about the path forward for BPL and its assets now that information about the utility’s condition is being revealed.

Christopher Hanna, president of the Bahamas Electrical Utility Managerial Union (BEUTM), which represents BPL’s middle managers, said he has “not been to visit Station A in five to six years”.

He added: “With the managers union, you may only have two or three managers who would have to go over to Station A and I would need to inquire about it. But Station A does look bad. I don’t know if we should have ever put the Wartsila machines in Station A.”

During the previous Free National Movement (FNM) administration, Mr Hanna said he was “not allowed” to go inside Station A because there was a fence running across the area. “BPL workers just weren’t allowed to go in, but I can inquire more on it and find out how my members feel about the report on Clifton Pier,” he added.

JoBeth Coleby-Davis, minister responsible for transportation and energy, on Wednesday tabled in Parliament a report produced by BPL’s chief executive, Shevonn Cambridge, and asserted that it revealed a $21m overrun on the cost associated with the ‘Station A’ investment which had failed to deliver the promised efficiencies and savings.