By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
(Basseterre, St. Kitts) – Leader of the People’s Action Movement, Lindsay Grant, said that the nation faces a black Christmas in light of the frequent power outages plaguing the country and has called for early general elections, claiming that the government has ran out of lies and excuses over the ongoing power crisis. Mr. Grant’s comments were made at a press conference at the Ocean Terrace Inn on Nov. 25 in the company of the Deputy Political Leader of PAM and Member of Parliament for Constituency # 5, Shawn Richards, and Mr. Bernard Welsh. Chairman of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, Dr. Timothy Harris, responded to Grant’s call for an early election by saying that Mr. Grant should not call wolf. “Mr. Grant ought to be careful about calling wolf because when wolf comes he may not be as prepared as he thinks that he is and therefore he should allow the wolf as it were to come in its own due time,” Dr. Harris said. “Secondly, Mr. Grant must be aware that elections generally are called more for the inconvenience of an opposition rather than for their convenience and therefore his calling for an election now seems to suggest that now is convenient to him,” he said. “Prime Ministers who are incumbents are the only persons with the power to call elections. Rarely are elections called at the convenience and insistence of the opposition and therefore following tradition and pattern, the election will not be called at the convenience or at the instance of Mr. Grant,” Dr. Harris added. Mr. Grant said that the ongoing electricity crisis called for new leadership. “More than one week after we were told to put away our flashlights and our candles and our make-shift lighting implements, the frustrating power cuts have continued throughout the country. We regret to announce that there were more widespread power cuts over the weekend. Ten years and millions of dollars later, the fumbling Denzil Douglas Administration has no final solution for this nation’s power crisis,” Mr. Grant said. “They are desperately engaging in stopgap measures. The rental of generators at the cost of some US$90,000″ per month is only a stopgap measure and is hiding behind the problem. The government is hoping that the country’s luck will change and the situation will improve. What the Federation needs now is a comprehensive power generating policy that not only takes care of the current crisis, but comprehensively deals with the capacity issues of the future,” he added. “We need to see that now.” On Nov.13, Minister of Public Works and Utilities, Assim Martin, announced at a press conference that the load shedding had ended. The power cuts were the result of problems at the power plant following an oil fire and damage to two main Mirrlees generators. Subsequent to Mr. Martin’s announcement, there were power cuts island-wide that called into question his announcement that load shedding had ended. A government press release dated Nov.18 and entitled “Government to Improve Security at Electrical Installations” stated that Cabinet convened a special session on Monday, Nov.17, to review the disturbing series of power outages in which they were briefed by the Electricity Department’s engineers. The release stated that the team of engineers was able to decipher the problem that led to the power outages. The Chief Electrical Engineer cited negligence on the part of staff members responsible for system protection matters at the power station. It was said that unauthorized changes had been made in the “earth fault setting” but it was not clear who had made the setting changes. This led to electrical faults which led to the tripping of the generators. As a consequence of the recent incidents and other past incidents, disciplinary action was taken in respect of two power station officers (including one supervisor) who have been sent on leave by management, the press release said. Following the suspension of the two power plant workers, Deputy Leader of PAM, Shawn Richards, cried foul, and said that the two workers were used as scapegoats for the mismanagement of the Electricity Department. Following the suspension of the two power plant workers, the power outages persisted last weekend Nov.22, prompting further speculations that the two workers who were suspended just one week earlier had nothing to do with the ongoing power cuts.”” PAM’s spokesman on energy and former engineer at the Needsmust Power Plant, Bernard Welsh, in a press release dated Nov.24, said “A week ago the Denzil Douglas Administration suspended two workers accusing them of wrongly changing the settings that caused the power outages last week. We are waiting to see what the excuse will be this time.”” A Nov. 24″ release from the press secretary, Erasmus Williams, stated that tripping of the 8MB 430 generator and a vehicular accident were said to be responsible for the interruption of electricity on Saturday Nov. 22.”” The press release quoted Superintendent of the Needsmust Power Station, Kevin Bennett as saying ‘the 8MB 430 tripped offline causing one of the Holeby engines, and the Mirrlees K8 to trip offline also.” In 2004, just before the general elections, the country suffered a similar spate of widespread power outages and Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas promised a commission of enquiry to look at the situation. That commission of enquiry did not materialize. Since the Oct. 2 fire at the Needsmust Power Plant that caused the damage of two Mirrlees engines, there has been an incendiary debate going on between the present Labour Administration and the Opposition about whether the Mirrlees generators were prototypes. The Opposition has maintained that the Mirrlees generators are part and parcel of the electricity woes of the country since they were bought by the Labour Administration in 1998. The Labour Administration has vehemently called the Opposition’s claim that the Mirrlees generators are prototypes false. Many people have been inconvenienced with the series of power outages; business owners complain that they are losing money, and several persons have claimed that their household appliances have either been damaged or destroyed and that they have no recourse. Another press release dated Nov.26 from the press secretary, Erasmus Williams, said that Minister Martin has requested from the management of the Electricity Department a comprehensive report on the on-going electricity challenges within one week while the Chief Electrical Engineer said that there were ongoing human challenges at the power station. “Our Federation’s development can no longer be held hostage to Labour’s mismanagement and bad decisions. Because of weeks of unreliable power, the country’s economy is being undermined and people are getting restless as the government continues to fail its citizens,” Mr. Grant said. “Labour has run out of lies and excuses as the nation faces a black Christmas.” “As we speak there is a gloom that is covering this Federation – a gloom of uncertainty. And it has been the making of this current government,” he said.
