The Guyana Police Force has arrested the engineer at a road construction site in Georgetown after heavy-duty machinery made contact with the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc.’s transmission line, resulting in a widespread power outage.
In a statement, GPL said that at approximately 08:50 hours today, several areas across Demerara (Georgetown, East Bank and East Coast, West Bank and West Coast) experienced a service interruption.
GPL teams were immediately deployed to assess the L10 Transmission Line linking the New Georgetown and Sophia Substations. Investigations confirmed that the disruption was caused by heavy-duty machinery making contact with the line.
According to the power company, checks at Dennis Street established that China Railway First Group was conducting road expansion works in the area at the time.
“The service interruption is as a result of machinery, attached to China Railway First Group, making contact with our 69,000-volt transmission line 10, which links our New Georgetown and Sophia Substations, causing it to trip. The Guyana Police Force has since arrested the Site Engineer,” it noted in a subsequent update.
Beyond the disruption to service, GPL emphasised that contact with electrical infrastructure poses a grave risk to life.
It pointed out that incidents of this nature can result in severe injury or death, in addition to widespread outages and damage to the network.
“GPL is therefore strongly urging all contractors and members of the public to exercise extreme caution when operating near electrical lines and to strictly observe all safety protocols and clearance requirements. The company further underscores that any party found responsible for damage to critical infrastructure will face the full brunt of the law,” the power company warned.
Meanwhile, efforts have been ongoing to restore service.
In its latest update at 13:24h, GPL said “…incremental restoration is still ongoing at approximately 80 per cent.”
Thus far, several areas in Georgetown and West Demerara have been repowered. “This restoration exercise will continue until all areas have been repowered,” the power company assured.
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