By JADE RUSSELL 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

jrussell@tribunemedia.net 

RESIDENTS in several areas of New Providence will experience power outages today as Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) conducts overhead maintenance, according to Energy and Transport Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis yesterday.

BPL announced the planned outages on its Facebook page, listing areas including Marathon Road, Carmichael Road, Southern Shores, and London Terrace among those affected. Yesterday, outages were scheduled to occur in Prince Charles, Nassau East South, Farrington Road, and on Bimini.

The planned outages are necessary for BPL to carry out overhead maintenance. Some areas require tree trimming, while others need equipment upgrades or line maintenance.

Mrs Coleby-Davis said the overhead maintenance exercise is crucial because many areas with power sources have not been maintained properly over the years.

She noted concerns in the past about sparked wires or trees coming into contact with electrical wires.

“We’re working in updating and upgrading our maintenance programme at BPL,” she told reporters after a tour at CH Reeves yesterday. “So that we can ensure that we’re able to address these situations right away, as opposed to having such a long extension for maintenance, and then when we have real issues, real problems, it causes frustration on the consumers.”

“The importance now is we put out that detail of planned maintenance and advised persons that there will be some electricity turned off during the time that we are maintaining but after the maintenance it’s right away back on.”

The energy minister emphasised how updating consumers about planned outages is needed to assist with clear communication and understanding of what’s happening.