THE people of Moraikobai, located in the upper reaches of the Mahaicony River last week expressed gratitude to the Region Five administration for a $6M grant that reactivated a 350KW electrical generator, which had been down for the past two years.

“The generator had been down because the Village Council had run out of funds due to the high costs of transporting fuel 96 miles into the upper reaches of the river, where our community is,” Toshao Colin Adrian explained last week.

He related that regional officials had visited Moraikobai in mid-February and had pledged to assist with the greatest possible dispatch.

“The Regional Executive Officer Mr Ovid Morrison and a team visited; Mr Morrison promised assistance and this assistance was made tangible in less than a week after the visit,” Toshao Adrian said, adding: “Thanks to this prompt support, power is now back at Moraikobai. The people of Moraikobai are very happy with this development. Thumbs up for the regional administration and the government. We applaud this prompt response.”

Adrian added that a Management Committee comprising various stakeholders in the community, including the Village Council, has been formed to manage the electrical plant and they will do so with funds provided by the region.

“Following this, the intention is that the committee will have moved to a stage of self-sufficiency where the regional subsidy will no longer be necessary,” he said.

The generator is currently being operated by a resident of the village and provides electricity from 18:00hrs to 22:00hrs.

Residents who are consumers are required to pay a monthly fee of $5000 for the service.

A portion of the money collected by the committee will be used for future operational use, while another sum will be allocated for community projects identified by stakeholders.

About 50 homes are currently benefiting from the reactivated power supply system, Toshao Adrian said.

More residents of the population have been indicating their intention to get on board the resuscitated grid.

The toshao also said the regional administration is currently making arrangements for four residents of Moraikobai to be trained by the Guyana Power and Light as plant operators/linesmen.

They will play an important role in the expansion of the system as more residents opt in.

He was optimistic that as the Management Committee comes to grips with their task and becomes more efficient, the hours of service may gradually increase, since the 350W (0.35MW) being generated is only marginally utilised.

“There is at the moment a lot of unused capacity in that generator,” he said, noting his optimism that the power would facilitate economic activities in his village.