[www.inewsguyana.com] – The tight power supply schedule to Mahdia and other surrounding communities in Region Eight is expected to improve as the new generator purchased by Government to address the problem is now installed and will become operational very soon.
Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsawack informed residents over the weekend that the new generating set that was procured at a cost $85M has been installed and will be tested over the next few days, before coming into full operations.
Residents have been affected by serious rationing of electricity in Mahdia from 24 to 12 hours. Harsawack explained that this has been due to the Mahdia Power and Light’s shortfall as a result of limited resources.
He explained that the operational cost of the Mahdia Power and Light has for long far exceeded the revenue accrued. The company does not have enough customers on the power grid to get enough revenue so as to generate 24 hours of electricity. Harsawack explained that there are just about 500 customers on the grid and about 85 do not pay for their power generation, for the reason that the first 15 kw of power is free.
Harsawack said that there is also the issue of many of the big businesses in Mahdia and Campbelltown not paying their light bill on time, which causes constraints, when the power company has to buy fuel and there is not enough money to turn around to do so.
The issue of fuel is also brought to the fore by the fact that the power company has a 750kva generating set, when it is using about 250 kva. In essence the set is too big for the small customer base and this is why government would have invested in a smaller generating set that would allow for the consumption of less fuel and at the same time, the provision of more hours of electricity generation to the residents, Harsawack said.
[Extracted from GINA]
