By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

RESIDENTS of Crooked Island have been without electricity and running water for nearly a week after both of Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) generators failed and a transformer linked to the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) stopped working, forcing schools, businesses, and government offices to close.

The water outage has affected the settlements of Colonel Hill and Cabbage Hill, leaving hundreds of residents without essential services. Many have turned to small private generators, with some resorting to stored rainwater to cope.

In a statement, BPL confirmed that two engines supplying electricity to Crooked Island had suffered mechanical failure.

“We sincerely apologise for the extended power outage,” the company said. “Our team has acquired a new generation unit from New Providence which has been shipped via mail boat. Once it arrives, technicians will begin work to bring it online and restore power supply.”

BPL shared photos showing the engines had arrived on the island yesterday.

The company expects electricity to be restored before the weekend and said it will continue to share updates through its stakeholder group on the island, which includes the administrator and local representatives.

Timothy Thompson, a 70-year-old resident, said he spent an entire day repairing an old diesel generator so he could pump water into his home.

“I had a little diesel generator from years ago,” Mr Thompson said. “I worked on it all day until I got it running so I could get some water. But we really need two brand new generators for Crooked Island. Every time, they send us old ones from somewhere else, fix them up and ship them down here. That is not fair.”

He said that while he can manage, many of his neighbours cannot.

“There are plenty old people on this island,” he said. “They cannot handle this heat, and they need water. Both schools are closed because there is no water. In 2025, my God, we should be better than that.”

Mr Thompson believes solar energy would be the best long-term solution.

“We got plenty sunshine,” he said. “Long Cay has solar power and only about five or six people live there. Why can’t Crooked Island be solarised? That is the answer right there.”

Deputy Chief Councillor of Local Government, Elvie Cunningham, confirmed that residents have been without water for at least five days and that both BPL generators are down.

“My freezer is leaking water on the floor,” she said. “We are losing what little we have stored. The team here on the ground is doing the best they can, but they are suffering too. The whole island is out.”

Despite the circumstances, Ms Cunningham said residents were trying to remain calm.

“Getting irritated will not solve the problem,” she said. “All we can do now is speak up and hope that something happens soon. When the powers that be see that the island is speaking out, maybe they will move a little faster.”

Other residents expressed frustration and fatigue, saying years of neglect had left the island unprepared for such a total breakdown.

Sonia McKinney, who works in the tourism sector, said the crisis has brought life on the island to a standstill.

“For weeks we were having power outages off and on,” Ms McKinney said. “BPL should have known that the generator was bad, but now everything is gone at once. The water plant was destroyed because of the power surges, and the internet went out after the last hurricane. We have nothing now, no power, no water, no internet, nothing. The whole island feels shut down.”

Ms McKinney said her guests were forced to leave after the resort refused to turn on its generator.

“The tourists got frustrated,” she said. “They are not used to being without air conditioning. The resort told them they were not turning on the generator for two people. That makes no sense. How are we supposed to promote tourism like that?”

She also questioned why small islands continue to rely solely on diesel power.

“It should not take a rocket scientist to figure this out,” she said. “We have all the sun in the world right here. Why are we not using solar power? Every time one generator breaks, the whole island goes down. That is no way to live.”

Ms McKinney said repeated power surges have destroyed appliances and that residents have not been compensated.

“I put in a new refrigerator five years ago,” she said. “It is already destroyed. I filed reports and nothing came of it. People lose their things over and over again and nobody replaces them.”