RESIDENTS of Port Kaituma in the North West District, Region One (Barima/Waini) are scheduled to receive 24 hours a day service through the Unserved Areas Electricity Programme (UAEP) from November 14. Chief Executive Officer of the Hinterland Electrification Unit (HEU) in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Mr. Horace Williams, said a new $140M power plant and distribution network built will be commissioned on that date.
The engine and grid at Port Kaituma will provide one megawatt (mw) of current for the 500 households in the village and its environs, at rates cheaper than those currently charged by private providers, he said.
Williams disclosed that the system at Port Kaituma is almost identical to the one recently commissioned at Mahdia, in Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni).
Both projects were funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Guyana (GOG), as part of the UAEP, which was undertaken in two phases starting from December 2005 and has benefited thousands of consumers in rural and hinterland areas.
Williams said he and a team of technicians will visit Port Kaituma next week to supervise tests on the system and the hook-up of consumers.
The operations will be managed by a group of residents and business people in Port Kaituma after the official commissioning on November 14, he stated.