The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussesll@tribunemedia.net

THE postponement of the All Andros & Berry Islands Homecoming event after a power outage in North Andros will affect up to 200 businesses, according to Bernard Evans, chairman of the All Andros and Berry Islands Committee.

“Our national regatta event impacts every settlement from Behring Point in the south to Nicholl’s Town in the north, resulting in over two hundred businesses benefiting,” he said.

Mr Evans said a lack of clarity on when power would be restored prompted officials to postpone the event.

His comments came after some complained on social media about how quickly the committee postponed the event.

A fire destroyed all generator units at a Bahamas Power & Light station in North Andros on Wednesday. BPL said it began restoring power to some residents last night, though it warned of five-hour interruptions for the next 48-72 hours while it worked to increase generation capacity.

“We value our patrons,” Mr Evans said. “We tried to get confirmation that it will be on. I know that nothing in life is guaranteed. But since we couldn’t get it, we decided amongst ourselves that the risk was too much to take.”

“I know BPL is very capable of providing power and full restoration. But because we didn’t get it, and this happened Wednesday morning, our first event was Thursday night. So we had people on the ground, on the boat that was scheduled to leave at 3pm.”