Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips inspected the repairs done to the Guyana Power and Light’s (GPL) recently damaged 69kV submarine cable on Tuesday and is satisfied that there will be stable power for the holidays.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar; Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, His Excellency Cui Jianchun; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Bharat Dindyal; Deputy CEO – Strategic Operations, Samaroo Ramtahal and Representative of China National Machinery Import and Export Cooperation, Andrew Jin.
The 69kV submarine cable links GPL’s Vreed-en-Hoop and Kingston substations and allows for the transfer of electrical power into the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS).
Prime Minister Phillips noted that the repairs to the damaged cable have been completed.
“We will be testing the cable tonight (Tuesday), into tomorrow (Wednesday) and based on what I’m told, by Wednesday evening, it should be up and running and we will be able to have the balancing of the (electrical) load from Vreed-en-Hoop into the rest of the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System.”
The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the Chinese Ambassador for bringing a team of four engineers from China to Guyana, to assist with the repairs.
Ambassador Jianchun said that he was happy to assist. He added that China and Guyana share an excellent working relationship and that it is expected that assistance is given when necessary.
“We always say that China and Guyana share a strong relationship and we are good friends… This is not about the money; this is really about needs and I commend the Government for being a people-centred Government,” the Ambassador said.
Minister Indar highlighted that the cable was severely damaged and the Government will be seeking to recover the costs spent on the repairs. He said the cost has already been estimated at around US$500,000.
“It’s not plug and play, it’s a serious job that required logistics…We’re going to go after the ship owners, the insurance and the agents, to recover every single dollar that we spent. It was not our fault that this happened.”
The Minister added that the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has already issued instructions to maritime operators that Area B (the vicinity in which the cable is situated), is now a restricted zone and operators are prohibited from anchoring their vessels there.
“Because the cable has been damaged four times, every time it is severed it gets shorter… ships can’t be anchoring there, we have to monitor that,” Minister Indar said.
The 69kV submarine cable was damaged in late November after it was struck by the anchor of a vessel in the Demerara River.
