— Guyana Power and Light

THE Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) has said that the recent power outages experienced in sections of the country are the result of planned maintenance works.

GPL’s Divisional Director for Operations Bharat Harjohn told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that these scheduled, planned maintenance activities are part of the power utility company’s maintenance strategy.

Harjohn noted that maintenance works decreased during and just after elections and with the presence of the COVID-19 epidemic in Guyana, there were additional delays with the programme.

With the approaching rainy season, the director said the programme needed to be put into effect.

“It is a standard operating procedure that we enhance our maintenance activities by replacing defective line hardware and poles and also increase our vegetation management programme. This involves a tree-trimming cycle and clearing of all other forms of vegetation along transmission and distribution lines to ensure the integrity of the network,” Harjohn explained.

Acknowledging that more people are working from home as a result of COVID-19, the director apologised for the inconvenience the outages may cause as GPL continues to make its network more resilient.

“We [GPL] are asking our customers to please bear with us. These outages are necessary for us to carry out maintenance to keep our network strong, so that we can continue to provide an uninterrupted supply of power,” Harjohn said.