The choice for containerised energy to mitigate utility provider GEBE’s acute lack of production capacity (see related story) is understandable in terms of cost, as the power barge is much more expensive. However, the latter could be operational in six weeks while the generators will take three months to ship, install and connect.
Time is obviously of the essence because the social, economic and financial damage keeps growing. Following Canada earlier, the United Kingdom has now advised potential travellers to the Dutch side about frequent lengthy electricity outages.
Some might argue that the high season is over anyway, but that’s actually when every remaining visitor counts most. Suffice to say that the negative impact on both residents and the local business community is substantial.
Consideration was therefore given to still renting a power barge to cover the six-week difference between the two alternatives but that was not deemed worth the hefty price-tag according to caretaker Prime Minister Luc Mercelina, although not all in Parliament agreed. Instead, taking the risk of replacing the US $2.7 million crankshaft of GEBE’s own engine number 19 to get it running again is under study to bridge the gap.
That would be really helpful if possible, because the country can ill afford much more than another six weeks of frequent load-shedding. Perhaps the 36-month lease-to-purchase deal for containerised energy mentioned earlier was not bad, as it will probably take that long before a structural solution can be implemented.
So long as everyone involved understands that this crisis is a true emergency and ought to be treated as such.
