-officials awaiting report
THE morning sky became clouded over with black smoke yesterday as one of the portable generator units at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Sophia Complex caught afire and was significantly damaged.

Operations Director, Mr. Colin Singh. (Photos by Adrian Narine)

The fire reportedly broke out at around 11:00hours, causing at least two explosions in the compound. The unit, a two-megawatt generator, was one of several in the compound, and was being used during peak hours by GPL to augment the supply of electricity to the Sophia community.

Up to press time, however, GPL officials could not say how much their loss amounted to.

Prime Minister, Mr Samuel Hinds, who has portfolio responsibility for utilities and was on site, agreed that the loss was a significant setback, but lauded the work of the firemen and GPL staffers whose fast action helped limit the potential damage the fire could have caused.

According to the Prime Minister, the origins of the fire is suspected to be as a result of the burning of refuse near the plant. The plant is bounded on one side by a drain, approximately three feet wide, which separates it from residential Sophia.

What I am told is that someone had a fire going for domestic purposes, and it caught on waste fuel that leaked into the drains and backtracked to the generator,” he explained.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that the handling of waste fuel was an issue, and that there was a pressing need for raising the level of cleanliness.

Residents in the area, however, disputed what the Prime Minister said, saying that no one in the community was burning refuse at the time, but acknowledged that while strenuous efforts were being made to discourage the dumping of refuse near the drain, it still continues unabated.

One resident, who gave his name as only Mr. Allen, said that ‘No dumping’ signs were put up to discourage dumping of refuse in the area, and that the reason the signs were erected was because the drain was constantly filled with waste fuel. “The fuel is always there,” he stressed.

He said, too, that apart from the two heard that morning, explosions were a regular occurrence at the Sophia plant, and that it happens as often as “every six weeks.”

His neighbour, Mr. Jagnarine Chaterpaul, supported this and said several complaints were made to GPL and to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the matter.

We made complaints, but that was not much help,” Chaterpaul said.

GPL Operations Director, Mr. Colin Singh, in an invited comment, said he was unaware of any such complaints. He also denied having any knowledge of regular explosions at the plant.

Firefighter attempts to prevent a spread of the fire to these diesel tanks.

However, another eyewitness placed the origins of the fire as being inside the compound not outside of it as is the claim.

While Singh did not comment on this, he did acknowledge that there was a possibility of leakage of waste fuel into the drains, but was unable to say as to why the matter was not taken in hand earlier.

Singh said mechanisms were presently being put in place and posited that an inquiry was going to be made into what happened from GPL’s end, in addition to the investigation that the Guyana Fire Service will conduct.

Other actions by GPL included senior staff looking into the operations at other locations to ensure that mechanisms were in place to avoid a repeat of what happened at the Sophia Complex.

This was according to the Chairman of GPL’s Board of Directors, Mr. Winston Brassington, who added that like others, he was awaiting further reports before commenting more on the issue.