President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said the regular spate of blackouts is unacceptable, but he hopes that with the commissioning of the new power plant at Kingston in the next few weeks, the problem will be addressed.

Speaking with the media at the Guyana International Conference Centre, at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, the President said he is very concerned and remains critical with the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) on the matter.

However, he acknowledged the work of the company’s employees who have been striving to bring the inconvenience under control.

“I know that they are working very hard and they told me that some of the blackouts are coming because they have to shut down the power to build the transmission line from Kingston to Sophia along the railway embankment,” Mr. Jagdeo pointed out.

He stressed that GPL has informed him that “things will remain a little tight” until work is completed on the transmission lines.

The President noted too that some sections of the line have to be upgraded to facilitate smooth transmission of power, but expressed another disappointment, this time with Wartsila, the Finnish company working on the project.

“I spoke with them and I am very concerned that the deadline has shifted, from May to now. Wartsila has shifted this deadline, I am told, to November.

“I said to them that’s unacceptable, that there must be some penalties for this, because this power was supposed to be in Guyana since May last. Nevertheless we hope that in a matter of weeks this new power plant will be commissioned,” he told reporters.

The Kingston facility will provide some 30 per cent of peak capacity in the Demerara grid, enough to solve the blackout situation.

“We have made the investment, some $US30M from last year to this year; you will see the improvement. I anticipate that for this Christmas we will have an adequate amount of power in the system and we will end this spate of blackouts.

“So I ask people to bear with us for a short while,” he urged.

Mr. Jagdeo said, too, that he has spoken to GPL, urging the company to ensure power is switched off properly to avoid damage to people’s equipment.

He said the power company has been told to stick as close as possible with the blackout schedule published in the newspapers, so that the public can understand and make their plans.