Barbados PM: Power outage ‘embarrassing’

(Barbados Nation) Calling the situation unacceptable and embarrassing, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has asked for a meeting with the chairman of Barbados Light and Power/Emera.

In an address to the nation on the radio yesterday morning, the Prime Minister said the operators of the country’s power generation plant had to provide answers about the state of its equipment.

For the past two days, the island has been hit by crippling power cuts which have had a ripple effect on the pumping stations of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA). They have forced the closure of schools and businesses and left Barbadians angry and bewildered about a situation with which they are unfamiliar.

“I am not an engineer; we are not engineers and we will await the word as to how a country can have all of its generating capacity down at the same time. It is inexplicable to me. I trust that … when I meet with the chairman that we will have all of those answers.”

Mottley said she was informed some of the feeder stations were back online and as a result both the BWA Belle pumping station and the Ionics Desalination Plant had power. The latter was making checks before going back in operation and Barbadian should expect to have water today.

In the meantime, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Grantley Adams International Airport, the Bridgetown Port, Her Majesty’s Prison Dodds and all of the critical institutions had generation power and all efforts were being made to maintain a sense of normalcy at those institutions.