Fresh on the heels of explaining why Junkanoo-Carnival again exceeded its budget, having the festivals commissioner then go on to explain that the whole Junkanoo-Carnival exercise is not an exercise in profitability, only after the government had already ‘invested’ over $21million over the past two years in the exercise; the government will now have to explain to the people of the Bahamas why is it that they turned over control of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), formerly [The] Bahamas Electrical Cooperation (BEC) from a Bahamian management group to a foreign one that seems to have little to no experience in hurricane [disaster] preparedness, as we still await their business plan on how they intend to move the cooperation forward, they by improving it.

“Power Failure: BPL blasted for worst hurricane recovery ever” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “Bahamas Electrical Workers Union President Paul Maynard yesterday blasted the ‘coordinators’ at Bahamas Power and Light for being ‘ineffective’ and organizing the ‘worst hurricane recovery effort’ he has ever seen.

In an interview with the Tribune, Mr. Maynard said if certain BPL officials had ‘listened to advice from the union’ more areas of New Providence would have been restored and BPL’s restoration timeline would be significantly shorter.

In a statement on Monday, BPL said it could not give an exact time for full restoration, but the company expects most customers to be back on supply by the end of the week.  However, Mr. Maynard said ‘two to three weeks’ is more realistic.”

We all have, well most of us, experienced the aftermath of a hurricane, and wherein there is a certain amount of time taken to restore essential services, such as electricity, there is an expectation that over time with the advancement in technology for services to improve but in this case there seems to have been no improvement on the system left in place by the former executives of BPL (formerly BEC) but rather more of a regression of sorts, as the lines at the local ice suppliers began to look like the lines that the government would hope and pray for at Junkanoo-Carnival; all of this time as the food in our refrigerators decayed.

The question is why did it take so long – actually why is it taking so long?  The power went out I my area at 9.30 pm on Wednesday 5^th October and was restored at 11.30 pm 11^th October, a mere 24 hours later than I had predicted that it would be restored but still there are there are some people in my neighborhood without power, some on the same street as myself.  I actually cannot go into the office today because the power in that area has not been fully restored; when BPL was fully BEC and managed by Bahamians, this was unheard of and the question again rises of what is the plan of this new company that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) has engaged to ‘manage BEC now BPL?  Did they ever have a plan for events such as these?

“Miller: New Providence repairs being done with skeleton crew” – The Tribune

Excerpt from this article; “Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller yesterday criticized Bahamas Power and Light Ltd saying the electricity provider has failed to properly coordinate efforts in a timely manner to restore the supply to residents in New Providence, pointing to the use of a ‘skeleton crew’ to the wide range of needed repairs to the capital.

Mr. Miller said BPL should have been able to re-connect customers in about two to three days after Hurricanes Mathew’s passing.  However some residents in New Providence have been left without power for a week, beginning when Mathew first touched down on the island last Wednesday.

He attributed the lengthy and ‘unacceptable’ time period to BPL’s decision to veer from the model to remedy issues caused by hurricanes, which was adopted by the Bahamas Electricity Cooperation (BEC) before it tr5ansitioned to BPL.

This, the actions of BPL, I see as not being in the best interest of the Bahamas and the Bahamian people and it is obvious why what we are seeing now that BPL’s ‘plan’ simply does not work, as it is totally ineffective.

I wonder if the Prime Minister will speak up about this issue, instead of the under the breath grumbling that he has done to date.

The Progressive Liberal Party fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END