By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Electricity Corporation Executive Chairman Leslie Miller yesterday quelled concerns that the quality of Crooked Island’s ground water supply could be contaminated by the corporation’s diesel tanks that were dislodged by Hurricane Joaquin.

Mr Miller recently inspected the two 25,000 gallon capacity fuel tanks that had been shifted from their bases on the devastated island.

Yesterday he moved to calm residents’ concerns about the tanks possibly affecting the ground water supply, saying “those tanks have nothing to do with the water table.”

“They were tanks at BEC’s plants that were moved out of position by the storm. They just need to be snapped back in place and they should be back up momentarily. This really is an issue of negligence more than anything else,” Mr Miller explained.

He did not say whether fuel had leaked from snapped pipes as a result of the tanks being dislodged.

Mr Miller said the water issue was to be resolved by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as they were responsible for dealing with the after effects of the storm.

During the inspection on October 10, Mr Miller said a crane would be needed to put the cylindrical tanks back into place.

“But you see what happen? All of these (bolts holding the brackets) snapped so you’d have to re-drill them, put them back in place. They (BEC) got a lot of work to do, that’s why I say you need private contractors to come to these islands and get this thing done. You cannot rely on BEC to get this done,” he told The Tribune at the time.

He stressed that BEC has been working hard in the past weeks in trying to restore electricity to the islands most affected by the hurricane.

“San Salvador is almost back up. Rum Cay is still down. Long Island is back to 50 per cent, but it’s Crooked Island that is giving us problems,” the chairman said.

He thanked the Grand Bahama Power Company and BVI Power Corporation (a Caribbean-based company) for lending aid in the form of bucket lift trucks and manpower to hasten their efforts in restoring power in those islands.

BEC’s infrastructure on Crooked Island was severely damaged by the storm, which has left the island without power. Remedying the situation on Crooked Island, the corporation said on Friday, will require replacing “all of its infrastructure on the island,” which calls for “significant resources – human and capital - as well as time.” However, the corporation said it is “committed” to fully restoring power to the island’s 253 disconnected customers.

The only generator working on the island was believed to be the solar-powered unit delivered by the SOS - Save Our South relief flights nine days ago to Colonel Hill airport where a makeshift medical clinic had been set up.

BEC estimated that of its approximately 108,000 customers nationwide, around 3,300 customers would have experienced outages lasting more than 24 hours after the storm, equating to “three per cent of BEC’s total customer base”.

In Rum Cay, a “badly damaged” docking facility has prevented BEC officials from delivering the “necessary supplies”, such as poles and transmission lines, to the island. However, the corporation said it is “confident” that with its generator units operable, repair work will “commence immediately” once those supplies are shipped in, restoring power to the island’s 87 (disconnected) customers.

Meanwhile, the corporation said that restoration work in both Long Cay and Acklins had been completed a week ago.

Additionally, BEC teams, with the assistance of the Caribbean Association of Electric Utilities (CARILEC), have made “significant progress” in San Salvador, restoring supply to homes and businesses across the island, including the Club Med Resort, Riding Rock Resort and government offices.

The situation in Long Island has also improved, as the corporation said customers in the island’s northern settlements began to see supply restoration as of last week Sunday. Power supply had since been restored as far south as Mangrove Bush with further progress expected by the weekend, the corporation said.

“The corporation acknowledges that its team in the Family Islands with the assistance of crews from New Providence and four CARILEC teams from Grand Bahama, the British Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Jamaica continue to make good progress considering the challenges that exist in executing restoration work,” BEC said. “The corporation is grateful to its team members as well as its CARILEC counterparts for their concerted effort to restore supply to these communities.”