Completion of repairs to damaged submarine cable slated for mid-November;spate of black outs in Bartica being addressed

Addressing matters related to the Guyana Power and Light Company, Public Infrastructure minister, David Patterson explained today that the submarine cable, which spans from Vreed-en-Hoop in region three to the Demerara grid, was damaged while work was being done; however, the cause has not been ascertained.

Patterson  said the damaged cable, which has resulted in spates of black outs, brings excess power from the Vreed-en-Hoop station in region three and puts it on the Demerara interconnected grid.

The Minister informed that GPL has raised the cable and identified the breakage, which requires the acquisition of a splicer. Three quotations have been acquired in this regard and a contractor has been identified, but this is awaiting official approval, the Minister said. Completion of repairs is anticipated for mid-November, since it would take 45 days for the splicer to arrive in Guyana.

The repair of the cable, the Minister noted will be completed in three phases. Phase one which entails the laying of the cable is complete. Phase two involves the splicing and the third re-burying of the cable.

Addressing the speculations regarding the re-burying of the cable, Patterson said according to his understanding, the original contract required it to be buried at a depth of three meters and MARAD had advised that it be placed lower, since they want to proceed with the dredging of channels. This Minister was advised that there is excess cable at both ends and at a convenient time, at the expense of the Company responsible, the cable would be buried further, at a depth of no less that six meters, Patterson highlighted.

In addition, the Ministry is currently addressing the irregular electricity service being experienced in Bartica, region seven. To this, Minister Patterson has apologized to the residents there.

It was revealed that three engines are slated for the town; however, one of these was recently taken off for overhauling. During this overhauling process, one of the two remaining engines developed a fault, thus leading to an insufficient supply of electricity.

As an interim measure, a set from Onverwagt has been relocated to Bartica and according to the Ministry; rehabilitation of the overhauled engine is slated for completion by this weekend.

Further, $1.5M is being spent to rent a piece of land to accommodate the temporary set and due to urgency, Patterson said the need for land was not publicly advertised.