THE standard of living for residents in Mabaruma is set to be enhanced with a 24-hour electricity supply to the Barima-Waini (Region One) township effective Sunday.
This is as a result of the installation of a new generator set at the Mabaruma Power Station, which will address the ‘blackouts’ residents were experiencing. During an inspection of the equipment on Saturday, Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, expressed his approval for the swift manner in which staff at the power station installed the genset.

“I am extremely satisfied that the engine arrived on Thursday, and today—Saturday– it is already installed and functional. So, that is immediate relief for the people of Mabaruma,” Minister Edghill was quoted as saying by the Department of Public Information (DPI).
Accompanying the Public Works Minister was Chairman of the Region One Regional Democratic Council, Brentnol Ashley, who provided the background to the past electricity crisis in the township.

“The bearing in the crankshaft of the 750kVa genset would have mashed, and other problems would have developed as a result of that which has caused us to have the intervention of government to have a new generator be procured, so that the people of Mabaruma would not be able to suffer from additional power outages.
“With this engine up and running… we will be able to put the electricity to 24 hours for our residents,” the Regional Chairman said, according to DPI.
Region One’s Regional Executive Officer, Regional Vice-Chairman, and the Mayor were also part of the inspection of Mabaruma’s new genset.

The current administration has made other significant strides to increase the nation’s power generation. Recently, 10 new generator sets valued nearly $500 million were acquired by the Guyana Power and Light Inc. Six were successfully installed at the Onverwagt and Sophia substations. The government has also outlined a series of plans to transform the energy sector, including, but not limited to, a gas-to-shore facility and the off-grid supply of electricity from renewable energy sources.