Prime Minister, Brigadier (rtd.) Mark Phillips yesterday said that the state of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) as outlined by former Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson last week is far from the truth. Patterson had attributed nationwide blackouts to accidents involving utility posts. He also said that it was due to poor maintenance work on the national grid. The PM quickly rubbished those claims made by Patterson on Friday.
During a press conference last week, Patterson, in responding to a question from Guyana Standard about power disruptions due to accidents, had explained that there is an underlying issue with poor maintenance of the grid and warned that if not taken seriously, could result in daily blackouts.
Prime Minister Phillips however had a different explanation. He posited that in fact, the increased number of accidents over the last several months involving utility poles has become the main contributing factor behind the increase in power outages across the country.
“When vehicles collide with these structures, the power flow is disturbed above the prescribed limit thus activating the protection systems on the grid to prevent further damage to the network and generating assets. In some instances, this can result in widespread outages,” the Prime Minister said.
PM Phillips explained that evidently but yet strangely, there have been increased vehicular collisions with primary GPL structures that have in some way disrupted power flow in the grid.
As a remedy to the issue, the PM said the administration plans to install bollards to identify critical structures which pose risks of accidents and damage to public Infrastructure. He then responded to claims made by Patterson about GPL’s “failing” distribution network.
“Mr. Patterson should be aware that GPL’s primary distribution network corridor is largely positioned on the earthen shoulder of main roads and transfers large amounts of power at 13,800 volts into the low voltage/secondary network to serve customers,” the Prime Minister said.
Patterson during the press conference also spoke about the GPL procurement processes, noting that the power company had started to procure substandard equipment which he said poses a grave threat to the life of the network.
PM Phillips in response said that significant quantities of network components, such as transformers, conductors, fuses, switches, insulators etc, were procured to ensure that planned and emergency maintenance allow for the efficient execution of works.
In conclusion, the Prime Minister said government has gone above and beyond to ensure that corrective action is take to restore GPL’s integrity as a reliable service provider.
