A worker repairing a damaged line.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados--As of midday on Sunday, the Barbados Light and Power Company BL&P had restored 70 per cent of the island’s electricity but warned that there was still “a long way to go”.
Manager of Communications at the BL& P Jackie Marshall-Clarke said restoration efforts are continuing. She said in addition to those restored on Saturday in all parishes, repairs were completed at the company’s Hampton, St. Philip substation, which sustained damage during Hurricane Elsa on Friday.
“We were also able to resolve several hazardous situations including poles and buildings in St. Michael and Christ Church. Despite this progress, there is still a long way to go. Our crews, contractors and trained employees are again in the field and diligently working to restore supply to more persons today. With the Hampton substation re-energised, our priority today is working on the distribution lines in St. Philip, which will allow us to restore electricity to hundreds of customers in that parish,” said Marshall-Clarke.
She said other major work will take place in the north of the island, seeking to restore residential and business customers in the Speightstown, St. Peter, St. Andrew and St. Lucy areas, while other crews will focus on the parishes of St. John, St. George and St. Joseph.
Marshall-Clarke said the company has received over 2,900 reports through its ECI app. The ECI Restore app, which the company said was designed for a circumstance such as the one at present, can be downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
Individuals can enter the required information and share photographs with the company from their location in real time. The phone’s GPS will select the closest pole and provide that data to the BL&P along with the footage.
She gave the assurance that the company had oversight of the entire network with outstanding faults while pointing out that the company “must manage the faults and the network carefully” as it restored power to every customer carefully and as quickly as possible.
“We understand the inconvenience that the loss of supply brings, so thank you for your continued patience and your understanding as we work safely to restore all areas impacted by Hurricane Elsa,” said Marshall-Clarke. ~ Barbados Today ~
