The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

GOLDEN Gates residents say prolonged power outages have left them sleeping in their vehicles to escape the heat, throwing away hundreds of dollars' worth of food, missing work, showering with garden hoses and facing mounting financial losses, as frustration grows over what many describe as the worst electricity disruptions the community has ever experienced.

Residents complained of repeated outages lasting between eight and 12 hours over the past two weeks, while some said they were left without electricity for as long as four consecutive days. They also criticised Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) for providing little information about restoration efforts, saying calls to the utility went unanswered and residents were left uncertain about when power would return.

Mario "Supa Mario" Major, who has lived in Golden Gates for 15 years, said the outages have become increasingly severe over the past 10 days.

"We've had some experiences for the past, I'd say, about 14 days," he said. "You come home, and you have no power all through the night. It's restless nights."

Mr Major said residents endured multiple lengthy outages, including power cuts lasting between 10 and 12 hours on several occasions and another lasting about eight hours over the weekend.

He said the situation became so unbearable that he spent nights sitting in his vehicle with the air conditioning running.

"The last two nights I pretty much got out of the house and went in the car and just turned on the air conditioning and ran my engine because it's highly frustrating," he said.

Mr Major, who recently spent an extended period in hospital and is a kidney transplant patient, said the outages pose health risks for vulnerable residents.

"You come home, and you figure it would be a little better because you can rest and relax, but you sit here dripping sweat," he said. "This ain't a regular heat."

He said spoiled food is another major concern.

"Look at the losses. Your produce, your refrigerated items. BPL don't give you anything back for that," he said.

"Take, for instance, I'm a kidney transplant patient. I have to be very particular about how I eat foods that have been sitting out, have been tarnished, or, for any reason, have been left unrefrigerated. So you can get infections," he said.

Another Golden Gates resident, who asked not to be identified, said her home had been without electricity since Sunday afternoon and remained without power up to yesterday.

"I threw away all of my meat yesterday afternoon," she said. "I want to go to the grocery store, but I'm not able to go to the grocery store because I don't know when the electricity is going to come back on."

She said despite repeatedly contacting BPL, residents received no explanation for the outages.

"We have gotten no explanation as to why the lights have been off," she said. "We've called that number. That number just rings and nobody answers it."

The resident said she and her 12-year-old daughter were forced to bathe using a garden hose outside their home because they had no electricity to operate their water system.

"My daughter and I took a shower yesterday on the side of our house," she said.

She added that the family has also been sleeping in their car to escape the heat, describing the outages as the worst she has experienced in the area.

The resident said the outages also disrupted her daily routine, forcing her to shower at a relative's home before work.

"I couldn't come to work early today. I had to go by my brother and take a shower and then come here because there's no water. The water goes with electricity," she said.

Concerned about further outages and possible power surges, she said she now plans to purchase a generator despite the expense.

"I'm going to, if I have to sell my kidney, get my generator this week," she said.

She urged officials to consider the toll the outages are taking on working families.

"You have people who go to work every day. How are people supposed to function when they go to work?  You come home after you would have paid these exorbitant bills, and then at the end of the day, you still have to figure out how you could sleep."

Anthony Allen, owner of Allen's Fine Bakery and Deli on Baillou Hill Road and Golden Gates, said his business was forced to close for two days because of the power failures.

"It was horrible," Mr Allen said.

He estimated that more than $1,000 worth of pastries, cheesecakes and other baked goods had to be discarded after refrigeration was lost.

"Maybe over $1,000 for the pastries, cheesecakes, and everything we had already prepared for Monday morning," he said.

Mr Allen said this was the worst disruption his business had experienced since opening in March last year.

"The power was normally constant," he said. "If it ran out, maybe an hour, a couple of minutes, and come right back on. But this was ridiculous."

He said he is now trying to secure a standby generator because he fears the outages could continue.

"I'm reaching out to some people now to see if I can try to get a standby generator because I don't see this could be a problem," he said.

Mr Allen also said previous outages had damaged equipment, including his point-of-sale system and one of his commercial refrigerators, creating additional repair costs.

The comments came after Golden Gates MP Pia Glover-Rolle said she contacted BPL over the prolonged outages and received a response from the utility's chief executive.

In a statement, Ms Glover-Rolle said BPL advised that electricity had been restored throughout the constituency and explained that the outages stemmed from a major fault at the Blue Hills Power Station, with additional work required on the electricity distribution network.

She said BPL also attributed the situation to exceptionally high electricity demand during the summer months, which has placed added strain on the system.

Ms Glover-Rolle acknowledged residents' frustrations, noting many had lost food supplies, endured sleepless nights and experienced significant inconvenience during the prolonged outages.

She urged any resident who remained without electricity to send their street address or a dropped pin so the matter could be referred directly to BPL for investigation.