Boxing Day power surge damages many household appliances
SEVERAL electrical appliances belonging to home owners were damaged following an alleged surge of electricity in Reliance Settlement, East Canje, Berbice on Boxing Day. As a consequence, the affected residents, about 20 in number, visited the Guyana Power & Light (GPL) Commercial Office, in New Amsterdam, on Wednesday, when they were each given claim forms.
One of them, Shonnel Simon, of Lot 1 Reliance Settlement, said she observed that the nearby transformer was sparking on Christmas Eve. Following telephone calls to the company, an employee responded and promised to send technicians to the area on Boxing Day.
The woman said, on awakening on December 26, she saw the GPL technicians on the utility pole but, suddenly, she heard ‘boom’ and her microwave was smoking.
“I called the workers and they came in, looked at the appliance and told me to go to the office in New Amsterdam for a claim form,” she related.
Another consumer, Cedric Bascom was grateful for his family being at home when his television and cordless phone, as well as his music set went up in smoke.
“If no one was at home, it might have been catastrophic. My home might have been destroyed,” he said.
Another resident, Karran Ramsook, speaking to the Guyana Chronicle outside the GPL building on Strand, New Amsterdam, said he was conversing on his telephone while playing music when he heard an explosive sound originating from his compact disc player.
“The electric lights went out and my cordless phone, a Panasonic burned in the process. I turned off the main switch, after which my son ran a short distance to inform the GPL workers, who were, at the time, repairing a transformer.
“They subsequently visited my home, observed the damaged articles and told me to visit the New Amsterdam branch on Wednesday. But, on our arrival, we were just given the forms. No one met us. They said the manager nor supervisor were at the location.
“The claim forms say we must have a receipt for damaged items. I don’t know if I can find those receipts. I had my electric bulbs over twenty years,” Ramsook lamented.
Michael Ramdeen, who owns an Internet café at Lot 4 Reliance Settlement, recalled hearing an unusual noise before smelling something burning.
He said he unplugged his appliances and called an electrician, who advised him that his refrigerator and his five ‘Vtech’ cordless phones were damaged by the sudden rise in voltage.
Ramdeen said all the victims are extremely fearful, especially at nights when they are expected to be asleep, as they do not know if there would be a recurrence that could cause the loss of houses and lives.
The aggrieved persons are of the opinion that the linesmen were negligent. They claim there are three rows of lines transmitting current and those who suffered loss were receiving from the top and middle conduits while those powered from the middle and bottom ones were not affected.