Verna Robinson-Simmons in her home pointing to the location of the backup generator.
SABA--Saba has been experiencing power outages since last November, which has heightened concerns within the community. The island saw five back-to-back outages early Tuesday morning, which escalated the frustration of one resident in particular.
Verna Robinson-Simmons has been a victim of air and noise pollution caused by the fumes and vibrations of a backup generator from a neighbouring building that houses the government’s Departments of Public Health and Community Development.
Robinson-Simmons, who is in her late 50s and suffers from high blood pressure, said whenever the generator starts up, she and other neighbours in the area are engulfed with black smoke because of where the generator is situated. She initially made a complaint when the generator was first installed last April, and she penned another complaint letter on January 5.
Although she has received feedback from the public entity of Saba about a solution, Robinson-Simmons said she is not satisfied with the resolution because she does not believe her concerns will be addressed.
In a letter on January 9, the Executive Council said: “Since April, this generator has been operational, and we acknowledge that during its initial start-up phase, there is a noticeable fume output. The current exhaust system is not adequately directing the fumes upward, and we are actively working with the installation company to extend the exhaust pipe. Unfortunately, the completion of this work has been delayed due to the holiday season, but we anticipate that the extended exhaust will significantly reduce the impact of fumes in the vicinity once installed.”
Robinson-Simmons’ home was completely engulfed with smoke as a result of Tuesday’s repeated outages.
“This morning, I had to go in my car to be able to breathe, and sit there and wait, when the current went off three times. Then I called the police, and they came and went through the house. They could also smell the pollution all through the house,” Robinson-Simmons told “The Daily Herald”.
Robinson-Simmons is very frustrated with how the generator was set up. She is calling on the relevant authorities to address her dilemma, particularly Commissioner of Health Eviton Heyliger.
“They never even asked residents about putting it there or looked into consideration of putting it in a different area,” she said.
According to the Executive Council’s letter, the generator was installed in a purposely-built generator room to ensure the safety of vaccines stored in the building’s refrigerators, which were previously housed at the Saba Cares Foundation complex but were relocated due to space constraints.
“[They – Ed.] are giving out vaccines one way and poisoning me the other way,” Robinson-Simmons said.
Saba Electric Company (SEC) issued a statement about Tuesday’s multiple island-wide power outages, saying they were caused by “grid-related issues”.
“Currently, almost all of SEC’s electricity grid is underground. This is a significant step forward for Saba, as underground cabling provides greater protection, reliability, and safety for the island’s electricity supply. However, when faults occur, finding the exact problem in an underground system is more difficult than with overhead lines,” the government-owned company
said.
SEC later said its team was eventually able to localise the fault in the grid in lower Hell’s Gate, and power was off in that area throughout the day as technicians carried out maintenance and repair work.
