In a telephone interview with the Guardian on Sunday, Works and Utilities Minister Bradley Roberts praised the management and staff of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, despite claims of inefficiency by Montagu Member of Parliament Brent Symonette.
During a meeting of the House of Assembly last week, Mr. Symonette said that the electricity supply to his home on the Eastern Road was disconnected seven times in one day.
“I will be disclosing what the problem is in short order,” Mr. Roberts told the Guardian.
“There was a problem with the line,” he said, which “had nothing to do with BEC’s inability to provide power. There might have been a fault in the transmission line. There was a recent line that was installed by a contractor of which there was some faults that developed and they are now being corrected.
“But of course, if you listen to Brent, BEC ain’t able to provide electricity. But I will deal with him,” Mr Roberts said.
During his contribution to the debate in the House of Assembly Thursday on legislation to establish E-commerce, Mr. Symonette said that the Bahamas is not ready for such a technological leap due to inadequate infrastructural constraints.
Mr Symonette also apparently ruffled many feathers when he accused the Progressive Liberal Party government of lacking a “political will,” which he said was reflected in delays in privatizing the Bahamas Telecommunications Company.
Combined with an inadequate telephone system and frequent power outages by BEC, he said, no “E-anything” was likely to be accomplished.
“Help and hope is out of the way,” he mocked, “Gone out the window.” BEC stands for “Barely Enough Current”, Mr Symonette satirized.
But according to Mr Roberts, “I am going to bring a detailed response as to what really happened. This had nothing to do with the lack of power.”
He declined to make any further comment on the matter until the House of Assembly meets this week.
Mr. Roberts did tell the Guardian however, that “The management and the general staff of BEC all appear to be fired up with a renewed energy and commitment to provide the best services BEC can provide and ought to provide to The Bahamian people,”
He said also that a new $40 million gas turbine for the Bahamas Electricity Corporation to provide back up electrical supply for New Providence is expected in May.
A DA (Diesel Alternator) 12 which should have been acquired since August 2002, will arrive in May, in time for the high-demand summer season, Mr Roberts said.
Two new boilers were also purchased by BEC to replace faulty ones at the Clifton Pier plant to further enhance the corporation’s potential to provide uninterrupted service, he said.
He said that BEC is still having problems with “DA 11”, which was installed several years ago.
“The unit has not performed up to par and it still is not performing up to par,” he said.
“We’re also continuing the programme of enhancing the transmission lines of BEC. Work is going on now. If you notice we have towers going up for the high tension wires, to distribute electricity to tie in with this new number 12 unit for more even distribution of the power, or alternate routes for distribution of the power,” Mr. Roberts advised.
He said that BEC’s maintenance programme has also been beefed up.
In anticipation of the opening of the Four Seasons resort, Mr. Roberts said, BEC ordered a new engine and a new transmission line to ensure adequate electricity on that island.
There are ongoing maintenance programmes on the other Family Islands, he said.
During the months of December and January, Mr. Roberts said, the power plants at Clifton Cay and Big Pond have been operational to the extent they are able to supply the demand for electricity in New Providence.
“I was very pleased that many people were able to have their Christmas trees lit during the holiday season with minor interruption. You will have a transformer on a pole that will blow from time to time, or somebody will run into a BEC pole in an accident and you have to replace the pole. But BEC has been dealing very quickly with these problems,” Mr. Roberts said.
In October, just one day after a massive island-wide power outage that for some, lasted more than six hours, a new gas turbine, the new Hitachi Diesel Generator No.4R was commissioned at the Blue Hills Power Plant.
When he served as chairman of BEC some 13 years ago, Mr Roberts said, it was envisioned that the Blue Hills Power Plant would serve only in a standby capacity in the event of failure at the Clifton Pier plant.
By Vanessa Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
