By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

LAST weekend’s island-wide blackout is the result of “third world thinkers refusing to look at modern options,” Democratic National Alliance Leader Branville McCartney said yesterday.

The former Bamboo Town representative called it a “crying shame” that Bahamians are being “forced to rely on old generators and expensive fuel” to power the country when there are many other “modern options.”

Mr McCartney said the time has come for government to consider alternative energy options. He said successive governments have had overtures from private companies and public committees on alternative energy sources but have continued to force Bahamian citizens to “brave the worst.”

He said the fact that citizens cannot fully equip their homes with solar energy technology is “archaic”.

“During my time in public office, I have seen first-hand a number of presentations on what it would take to fix our energy production issues. There has been the solar energy plan that has been shelved by both governments. We have both the wind power and the waste-to-energy options that we can look into.

“I equate the recent power outages with our government spending $230m on vessels for the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. With all of that money spent on vessels, our issues with drug smuggling, gun trafficking and human trafficking still persist.”

That $232m could have been invested in effective drone technology that would have needed limited manpower, Mr McCartney suggested.

“Bahamians have to understand that there is more than what we have been given so far, there is so much more the Bahamas can achieve. These are the leaders that can’t use computers, send emails or texts. It’s 2015, it’s time to come out of the Dark Ages and build a modern Bahamas free of regressive thinkers.

“These third world thinkers are the reason we haven’t had any new industries in the past 15 years because they are still caught up (with) a tourism product that isn’t working.”

The island lost power Friday around 2pm after a fire started at the Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s (BEC) Blue Hills Power Station.

Some parts of the island had power restored on Friday night and BEC engaged in load shedding over the weekend. However, some residents complained that they were without power for more than 30 consecutive hours.

BEC said all customers had power restored as of Sunday night, however there were reports that some people still did not have electricity.

BEC Executive Chairman Leslie Miller revealed on Sunday that this weekend’s “catastrophic” incident will cost taxpayers half a million dollars to repair damaged equipment and recover money lost by the corporation because it was not supplying power to consumers.

Mr Miller also said that the entire ordeal could have easily been prevented if employees had done their job and properly maintained the plant.

Mr Miller said the fire started after an “overloaded wire” came into contract with oil that had dripped into the trenches at the Blue Hills Power Station.