GPL says severity, frequency of outages to reduce
(L-R) Engineer Kempton France, Project Manager Gail Best and Senior Divisional Director Colin Singh
Kwesi Isles
The Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) says widespread power outages like the one which affected some 37,000 customers in Demerara on Sunday should now be a thing of the past with the work done during the outage.
The company had placed ads in the media stating that power would be out from 8 AM to 5PM to facilitate work at the Sophia substation but power returned until around 8 PM. The Sophia facility is the control centre for GPL’s transmission and distribution networks.
“We brought into service a new sectionalised busbar that would give us the flexibility of isolating sections instead of what happened yesterday where we had to shut down the plant and as such interrupt service to about 37,000 plus customers,” Project Manager Gail told reporters Monday.
She added that Sunday’s inclement weather was a major factor in the delay.
“We weren’t on the ground, we were up in the air, suspended in the air working with spanner and crescent and so on so we couldn’t go through during the rain, we had to take some pause … we were able to complete all works just an hour short of the scheduled outage time that we had announced which would have been about six o’clock.”
Best said they then had to test the new component before putting it in service.
“We had to confirm that everything was correct … and the testing caused some more delays. However, we were able to complete all works, the testing around 7 o’clock last evening and to hand over the system to the system control operatives so they could normalise the system to repower customers,” she said.
“Yesterday’s outage was just to allow us to progress from Step A to Step B, it is not the end all of the outages. However, with the sectionalised bus that we have in place now we wouldn’t be shutting down the plant ever again. We will be isolating sections to allow us to proceed with our works.”
Operations and Planning Engineer Kempton France added that the new component would result in less blackouts and of shorter durations.
Work is also underway at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara and the officials say no outages would be necessary to facilitate that operation.
France added that work would also result in less blackouts, more stable voltage and a reduction in line loss since shorter feeder lines will replace some 20 miles of feeders.
Sunday’s exercise also enabled GPL to connect the existing Sophia facility to a new one adjacent to it as well as another being constructed at North Ruimveldt.
The work on the seven substations is scheduled to be completed by year end.
The Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) says widespread power outages like the one which affected some 37,000 customers in Demerara on Sunday should now be a thing of the past with the work done during the outage.
The company had placed ads in the media stating that power would be out from 8 AM to 5PM to facilitate work at the Sophia substation but power returned until around 8 PM. The Sophia facility is the control centre for GPL’s transmission and distribution networks.
“We brought into service a new sectionalised busbar that would give us the flexibility of isolating sections instead of what happened yesterday where we had to shut down the plant and as such interrupt service to about 37,000 plus customers,” Project Manager Gail told reporters Monday.
She added that Sunday’s inclement weather was a major factor in the delay.
“We weren’t on the ground, we were up in the air, suspended in the air working with spanner and crescent and so on so we couldn’t go through during the rain, we had to take some pause … we were able to complete all works just an hour short of the scheduled outage time that we had announced which would have been about six o’clock.”
Best said they then had to test the new component before putting it in service.
“We had to confirm that everything was correct … and the testing caused some more delays. However, we were able to complete all works, the testing around 7 o’clock last evening and to hand over the system to the system control operatives so they could normalise the system to repower customers,” she said.
“Yesterday’s outage was just to allow us to progress from Step A to Step B, it is not the end all of the outages. However, with the sectionalised bus that we have in place now we wouldn’t be shutting down the plant ever again. We will be isolating sections to allow us to proceed with our works.”
Operations and Planning Engineer Kempton France added that the new component would result in less blackouts and of shorter durations.
Work is also underway at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara and the officials say no outages would be necessary to facilitate that operation.
France added that work would also result in less blackouts, more stable voltage and a reduction in line loss since shorter feeder lines will replace some 20 miles of feeders.
Sunday’s exercise also enabled GPL to connect the existing Sophia facility to a new one adjacent to it as well as another being constructed at North Ruimveldt.
The work on the seven substations is scheduled to be completed by year end.
The company had placed ads in the media stating that power would be out from 8 AM to 5PM to facilitate work at the Sophia substation but power returned until around 8 PM. The Sophia facility is the control centre for GPL’s transmission and distribution networks.
“We brought into service a new sectionalised busbar that would give us the flexibility of isolating sections instead of what happened yesterday where we had to shut down the plant and as such interrupt service to about 37,000 plus customers,” Project Manager Gail told reporters Monday.
She added that Sunday’s inclement weather was a major factor in the delay.
“We weren’t on the ground, we were up in the air, suspended in the air working with spanner and crescent and so on so we couldn’t go through during the rain, we had to take some pause … we were able to complete all works just an hour short of the scheduled outage time that we had announced which would have been about six o’clock.”
Best said they then had to test the new component before putting it in service.
“We had to confirm that everything was correct … and the testing caused some more delays. However, we were able to complete all works, the testing around 7 o’clock last evening and to hand over the system to the system control operatives so they could normalise the system to repower customers,” she said.
“Yesterday’s outage was just to allow us to progress from Step A to Step B, it is not the end all of the outages. However, with the sectionalised bus that we have in place now we wouldn’t be shutting down the plant ever again. We will be isolating sections to allow us to proceed with our works.”
Operations and Planning Engineer Kempton France added that the new component would result in less blackouts and of shorter durations.
Work is also underway at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara and the officials say no outages would be necessary to facilitate that operation.
France added that work would also result in less blackouts, more stable voltage and a reduction in line loss since shorter feeder lines will replace some 20 miles of feeders.
Sunday’s exercise also enabled GPL to connect the existing Sophia facility to a new one adjacent to it as well as another being constructed at North Ruimveldt.
The work on the seven substations is scheduled to be completed by year end.
Bandits open fire, rob city gas station
Denis Scott Chabrol
A city gas station was Monday afternoon robbed of GUY$1 million by two men during the 10 minute ordeal, according to the owner of the decades-old business enterprise.
Steve Cheong, who operates a Rubis-branded outlet on Vlissengen Road and Eping Avenue, Bel Air Park, believed that the attack was an inside job.
“I suspect this but I can’t tell u definitely that it so,” he told Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com). He explained that the incident occurred around 4:30 PM shortly after electricity supply had been restored and the morning’s sales were being balanced.
He said the video surveillance recorder has to be restarted whenever power is restored. In this case, the recorder was not restarted before the robbery.
The two men entered the unlocked office and fired shots in the roof before escaping on a motorcycle with the cash- the first robbery for the year.
Cheong, who is the ex-president of the Guyana Petrol Dealers Association, seized the opportunity to call on the Guyana Police Force to deploy periodic patrols around gas stations.
“We are just left open to doing a good job and serving the public and making sure everyone gets gasoline and the little profit that we make is being taken away from us,” he said.
He lamented that gas stations and their owners are not being treated as an essential service.
Cheong’s call came one week after fellow gas station owner Cecil Gajadar and his employee, Vincent Da Silva, were ambushed on Water and Cowan Streets, Georgetown as they were heading to a city bank.
One man has been charged with murder in the course of committing a robbery of GUY$8 million belonging to Gajadar.
A city gas station was Monday afternoon robbed of GUY$1 million by two men during the 10 minute ordeal, according to the owner of the decades-old business enterprise.
Steve Cheong, who operates a Rubis-branded outlet on Vlissengen Road and Eping Avenue, Bel Air Park, believed that the attack was an inside job.
“I suspect this but I can’t tell u definitely that it so,” he told Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com). He explained that the incident occurred around 4:30 PM shortly after electricity supply had been restored and the morning’s sales were being balanced.
He said the video surveillance recorder has to be restarted whenever power is restored. In this case, the recorder was not restarted before the robbery.
The two men entered the unlocked office and fired shots in the roof before escaping on a motorcycle with the cash- the first robbery for the year.
Cheong, who is the ex-president of the Guyana Petrol Dealers Association, seized the opportunity to call on the Guyana Police Force to deploy periodic patrols around gas stations.
“We are just left open to doing a good job and serving the public and making sure everyone gets gasoline and the little profit that we make is being taken away from us,” he said.
He lamented that gas stations and their owners are not being treated as an essential service.
Cheong’s call came one week after fellow gas station owner Cecil Gajadar and his employee, Vincent Da Silva, were ambushed on Water and Cowan Streets, Georgetown as they were heading to a city bank.
One man has been charged with murder in the course of committing a robbery of GUY$8 million belonging to Gajadar.
Steve Cheong, who operates a Rubis-branded outlet on Vlissengen Road and Eping Avenue, Bel Air Park, believed that the attack was an inside job.
“I suspect this but I can’t tell u definitely that it so,” he told Demerara Waves Online News (www.demwaves.com). He explained that the incident occurred around 4:30 PM shortly after electricity supply had been restored and the morning’s sales were being balanced.
He said the video surveillance recorder has to be restarted whenever power is restored. In this case, the recorder was not restarted before the robbery.
The two men entered the unlocked office and fired shots in the roof before escaping on a motorcycle with the cash- the first robbery for the year.
Cheong, who is the ex-president of the Guyana Petrol Dealers Association, seized the opportunity to call on the Guyana Police Force to deploy periodic patrols around gas stations.
“We are just left open to doing a good job and serving the public and making sure everyone gets gasoline and the little profit that we make is being taken away from us,” he said.
He lamented that gas stations and their owners are not being treated as an essential service.
Cheong’s call came one week after fellow gas station owner Cecil Gajadar and his employee, Vincent Da Silva, were ambushed on Water and Cowan Streets, Georgetown as they were heading to a city bank.
One man has been charged with murder in the course of committing a robbery of GUY$8 million belonging to Gajadar.
AFC calls for mass street protests
The Alliance For Change (AFC) is calling for mass street protests to oust the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration from power.
AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes punctuated his entire speech at a public meeting in Kitty, Georgetown with appeals for agitation against ills such as corruption and bad governance.
In apparent reference to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and its major partner, the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR), that street protests would be disruptive and inflitrated by unsavoury characters, Hughes said such action was the the only effective means at the disposal of ordinary citizens.
“I don’t care what they say that marching down the street does cause disruption and marching down the street- people does get frighten and they send people to infiltrate.
“Well understand that the strongest weapon you have is the weapon of mass protest…These are radical times. You are facing extraordinary problems and it requires extraordinary solutions,” he said.
He reasoned that oppressive governments do not give up power easily and, like in Egypt, they yield only to widespread public pressure.
Hughes urged Guyanese to be prepared mentally for the revolution on the streets rather than parliamentarians voting down bills and complaining about corruption or writing letters.
“At the end of the day, we the people will have to take the streets to change and get the things that we want. There is no other way,” he told the small gathering at William and Alexander Streets.
He accused government of discriminating against a segment of students at the National Grade Six Assessment that would see only select persons attending high grade secondary schools. Hughes blamed government’s lack of vision for misspending public funds on projects such as the Marriott Hotel rather than dredging the Demerara River to allow greater volumes of imports and exports at a lower cost.
The time has come, he said, to respond to take to the streets rather than cry out in disgust. “The next time there is a scandal make sure you gather at the street corner because, like the people in Egypt, we will have to take to the streets because we are not going to continue to have people ride on our backs,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the business community, the AFC executive member labelled the business community a band of bribers. “We don’t have a business community in Guyana. We have a community of bribe-payers, bribe takers and they call that progress,” he said. He added that the police, judiciary, sugar and other sectors are not working and polluted by corruption.
The AFC called the PPPC-administration the “most poisonous, cancerous government” in Guyana’s history.
AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes punctuated his entire speech at a public meeting in Kitty, Georgetown with appeals for agitation against ills such as corruption and bad governance.
In apparent reference to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and its major partner, the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR), that street protests would be disruptive and inflitrated by unsavoury characters, Hughes said such action was the the only effective means at the disposal of ordinary citizens.
“I don’t care what they say that marching down the street does cause disruption and marching down the street- people does get frighten and they send people to infiltrate.
“Well understand that the strongest weapon you have is the weapon of mass protest…These are radical times. You are facing extraordinary problems and it requires extraordinary solutions,” he said.
He reasoned that oppressive governments do not give up power easily and, like in Egypt, they yield only to widespread public pressure.
Hughes urged Guyanese to be prepared mentally for the revolution on the streets rather than parliamentarians voting down bills and complaining about corruption or writing letters.
“At the end of the day, we the people will have to take the streets to change and get the things that we want. There is no other way,” he told the small gathering at William and Alexander Streets.
He accused government of discriminating against a segment of students at the National Grade Six Assessment that would see only select persons attending high grade secondary schools. Hughes blamed government’s lack of vision for misspending public funds on projects such as the Marriott Hotel rather than dredging the Demerara River to allow greater volumes of imports and exports at a lower cost.
The time has come, he said, to respond to take to the streets rather than cry out in disgust. “The next time there is a scandal make sure you gather at the street corner because, like the people in Egypt, we will have to take to the streets because we are not going to continue to have people ride on our backs,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the business community, the AFC executive member labelled the business community a band of bribers. “We don’t have a business community in Guyana. We have a community of bribe-payers, bribe takers and they call that progress,” he said. He added that the police, judiciary, sugar and other sectors are not working and polluted by corruption.
The AFC called the PPPC-administration the “most poisonous, cancerous government” in Guyana’s history.
The AFC's call comes just days after the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA), an APNU partner, called on the coalition to be militant against the PPPC administration. APNU, unlike the AFC, earlier this week said that its support for amendments to financial crimes laws was not tied to the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission. That body is regarded by the opposition and civil society as key tool in fight multi-billion dollar corruption through the award of contracts for goods and services.
Speed boat captain dies after slamming bike into car
Gavin Renville being comforted by a public spirited citizen.
AFC calls for mass street protests
Denis Scott Chabrol
Denis Scott Chabrol
A 32-year old speedboat operator was Saturday afternoon killed when he slammed a motorcycle into the back of a car on the Parika Public Road, East Bank Essequibo.
He has been identified as 32-year old Gavin Renville of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo.
Police sources said that investigations so far have revealed that the car slowed down to negotiate a turn when the motorcycle struck the car from behind. The accident occurred around 5:15 PM.
“Renville was driving his motor cycle along the roadway, when he collided with the rear of a motor car that was proceeding in the same direction and received injuries,” Police Force spokesman Ivelaw Whittaker later said in a statement.
Renville, who was not wearing a helmet, fell off the motorcycle and sustained severe injuries.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Leonora Hospital. He was a former student of Leonora Secondary School.
The bike, which was badly damaged, is owned by his employer whose only name has been given as "Reds".
A 32-year old speedboat operator was Saturday afternoon killed when he slammed a motorcycle into the back of a car on the Parika Public Road, East Bank Essequibo.
He has been identified as 32-year old Gavin Renville of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo.
Police sources said that investigations so far have revealed that the car slowed down to negotiate a turn when the motorcycle struck the car from behind. The accident occurred around 5:15 PM.
“Renville was driving his motor cycle along the roadway, when he collided with the rear of a motor car that was proceeding in the same direction and received injuries,” Police Force spokesman Ivelaw Whittaker later said in a statement.
Renville, who was not wearing a helmet, fell off the motorcycle and sustained severe injuries.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Leonora Hospital. He was a former student of Leonora Secondary School.
The bike, which was badly damaged, is owned by his employer whose only name has been given as "Reds".
He has been identified as 32-year old Gavin Renville of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo.
Police sources said that investigations so far have revealed that the car slowed down to negotiate a turn when the motorcycle struck the car from behind. The accident occurred around 5:15 PM.“Renville was driving his motor cycle along the roadway, when he collided with the rear of a motor car that was proceeding in the same direction and received injuries,” Police Force spokesman Ivelaw Whittaker later said in a statement.
Renville, who was not wearing a helmet, fell off the motorcycle and sustained severe injuries.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Leonora Hospital. He was a former student of Leonora Secondary School.
The bike, which was badly damaged, is owned by his employer whose only name has been given as "Reds".
UK politician who observed a Guyana election dies
A British elections observer, who had described the 1986 elections as “crooked as barbed wire” has died.
The UK Guardian reported that Pratap Chitnis, Lord Chitnis, died on July 12. He was 77.
Lord Chitnis was one of several members of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons whom the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) had lobbied prior to the 1986 poll on grounds of human rights abuses and repeated rigged elections by the then Forbes Burnham-led Peoples National Congress (PNC) administration.
Chitnis and his colleague, Lord Avesbury, had been prevented from entering Guyana and took evidence from the opposition while in Trinidad where they had been holed up.
They together produced a report titled “Guyana Elections: Crooked as Barbed Wire.”
Ironically, Lord Chitnis had been a consultant to Robert Mugabe in the first Zimbabwean election in 1979. Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe has been isolated from the Commonwealth, an organisation of mostly former British colonies.
The UK Guadian described Lord Chitnis as one of the most prominent fixers in centre-left politics from 1960 to the end of the 1980s. He was a modernising head of the Liberal party organisation, active in the party throughout the time of Jo Grimond, Jeremy Thorpe and David Steel. He was a key player in negotiations that led to the creation of the Liberal-SDP Alliance, which endured from 1981 to 1987.
Chitnis was born in Birmingham, the son of a Hindu family doctor and a French mother. When the second world war broke out, he was sent away to be raised by nuns. Later, he went to Stonyhurst college, Lancashire, run by Jesuits. He read English at Birmingham University and took an MA at the University of Kansas. But after these studies, he forsook further interest in literature and would proudly admit that he had ceased reading novels. He became avowedly anti-intellectual and disdainful of academics. Even in his chosen calling, he eschewed any interest in policy formulation and concentrated solely on the mechanics and machinations of politics.
He is survived by his wife, Anne, whom he married in 1964. A son, Simon, died in childhood.
The UK Guardian reported that Pratap Chitnis, Lord Chitnis, died on July 12. He was 77.
Lord Chitnis was one of several members of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons whom the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) had lobbied prior to the 1986 poll on grounds of human rights abuses and repeated rigged elections by the then Forbes Burnham-led Peoples National Congress (PNC) administration.
Chitnis and his colleague, Lord Avesbury, had been prevented from entering Guyana and took evidence from the opposition while in Trinidad where they had been holed up.
They together produced a report titled “Guyana Elections: Crooked as Barbed Wire.”
Ironically, Lord Chitnis had been a consultant to Robert Mugabe in the first Zimbabwean election in 1979. Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe has been isolated from the Commonwealth, an organisation of mostly former British colonies.
The UK Guadian described Lord Chitnis as one of the most prominent fixers in centre-left politics from 1960 to the end of the 1980s. He was a modernising head of the Liberal party organisation, active in the party throughout the time of Jo Grimond, Jeremy Thorpe and David Steel. He was a key player in negotiations that led to the creation of the Liberal-SDP Alliance, which endured from 1981 to 1987.
Chitnis was born in Birmingham, the son of a Hindu family doctor and a French mother. When the second world war broke out, he was sent away to be raised by nuns. Later, he went to Stonyhurst college, Lancashire, run by Jesuits. He read English at Birmingham University and took an MA at the University of Kansas. But after these studies, he forsook further interest in literature and would proudly admit that he had ceased reading novels. He became avowedly anti-intellectual and disdainful of academics. Even in his chosen calling, he eschewed any interest in policy formulation and concentrated solely on the mechanics and machinations of politics.
He is survived by his wife, Anne, whom he married in 1964. A son, Simon, died in childhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment