In the predawn hours of Friday 28th June, 2024, the residents of Lower Fort Road and adjacent communities were roused from sleep as their bedrooms had suddenly become unbearingly hot β electricity had been cut. With the break of dawn, it was revealed that a vehicular accident had occurred close to Dry Hill resulting in the downing of several electrical poles and transformers.
Residents frantically made calls to APUA who courteously advised that they were aware of the situation and actively seeking to address the matter. The community was filled with dread, for as one distressed resident put it: ” This damage is equivalent to being hit by a hurricane. Three broken poles and three transformers to be repaired or reinstalled, plus wires to be transferred to new poles. This may take several days to rectify” they sorrowfullymoaned.
At 8.02 a.m. a bucket truck was observed lumbering to the scene, rapidly followed by a slew of more trucks, equipment and personnel. At approximately 9.20 a.m. electricity was restored to a significant portion of the area much to the surprise and delight of residents. By 2.15 p.m. it had been fully restored.
The residents of Lower Fort Road and adjacent communities wish to express their thanks and gratitude to APUA for its quick and efficient response to the emergency. We especially commend the crew – the hardworking linesmen, electricity crew members and supervisors on the scene who did all in their power to expeditiously restore service to the area. We further extend thanks to the Division’s management for having in place protocols and mechanisms to ensure the availability of resources as well as procedures and processes that enable the swift and smooth rectification of crises.
In contrast, residents remain disappointed and baffled by the Ministry of Public’s Worksβ apathetic response to their plea for urgent action to be taken to repair the section of Lower Fort Road between Adelin Clinic and the Dry Hill junction. Residents have had to live with unacceptable and dangerous amounts of dust following Public Works grading of the road days before Labour Day in early May of this year. Following a public outcry by the community the week of June 9th, so-called remedies initiated by Public Works have been lack lustre, providing little ease. This included grading the road twice again, the first time in
the days immediately following the public appeal. Yet another grading on June 20th has returned the road to a condition in which copious dust kicked up by vehicles on the heavily trafficked road, is wreaking havoc on residents. It is so bad at times that visibility becomes significantly reduced. Residents are fully aware and accept that repairing the road would take a few days even a couple weeks- not several weeks/months. Residents also incorrectly assumed that Public Works would naturally and automatically communicate with them about the issue as well as seek to effectively mitigate the negative impacts of the road reconstruction on community members. It should be noted, that local doctors have publicly advised that the situation is bad for the health of the community whether in the short or long term.
The community is hoping that Public Works will take APUA Electricity as an example in responsiveness and efficiency and act swiftly to remedy the untenable situation it has placed residents in.
To APUA Electricity β Big-up to you for a job well done!!!
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While I can understand a customer as a bystander not understanding the intricacies of utility and electricity, I have worked in that field around the Caribbean, and that job could have taken a minimum of 2-1/2 hours to complete repairs, perhaps also this writer is a woman or elderly so it becomes incredulous to them, this is not to take away from the hard work the Apua linesman has carried out, been under staff and besieged by Mr Matthias the electricity manager whose only input is oppressing the workers because he can’t come out to their field of work and impart any knowledge or skill perhaps like Mr George Piggott use to do in the field and even up the pole, the Apua linesman is operating under scarcity of skill linesman and lack of modern infrastructure to get service back up faster which will require engineering to specific material purchase to execute a quicker service delivery, our distribution line system are 1940’s British replica that is over cost design and not ergonomic enough to disassemble and assemble, and where hotline repairs could be done so no power interruptions,that will never be with the present electricity manager been unable to lead the workmen’s into that era, because he has never been near electricity, the engineers manage from an academic standpoint, like disciplinary and promotion assessment of the linesman that work so hard doing something the manager won’t go near to, but he assessing you, that electricity manager won’t know the latest materials that can aid the linesman work, these workers should be sent on utilities convention hosted around the world to get up to date with the latest infrastructure or tools to deliver quicker and safe Costomer service, but I applaud the workers for working in an antiquated environment and management for now.