NASSAU, BAHAMAS: Opposition Leader Michael Pintard is accusing the Davis administration of failing to provide urgent relief to Grand Cay residents, with some residents reportedly going seven days without electricity and spending as much as $90 a day on fuel to power generators.
Pintard said the prolonged outage comes after residents had already endured persistent load shedding, leaving families struggling to maintain basic power supplies.
“Residents of Grand Cay have been experiencing for seven days straight a lack of power and even before that they were facing constant load shedding,” Pintard said.
He claimed some residents have been forced to spend heavily on gasoline or diesel in an effort to keep generators running.
“Some residents have spent $90 a day purchasing gas or diesel, hoping to get some relief,” he said.
Pintard also questioned the continued collection of electricity bills while residents remain without reliable service, claiming BPL has notified customers that it will continue collecting payments.
“And imagine this, you’re spending all this money on gasoline or diesel but BPL, I’m told, still sends out a notice that on the 20th they’ll be down to collect monies from residents who’ve not paid their bills,” Pintard said.
He also criticized the government over claims that electricity bills on Grand Cay were cleared ahead of the May general election, suggesting residents are now being left without comparable relief.
“Just before the election, this government found a way to zero all bills on the key where they needed votes and now the vote has come in, they’re in power and persons cannot keep their power on and in the midst of it, there is no relief,” he said.
Pintard further claimed some residents have seen their electricity bills increase despite enduring load shedding, while efforts to bring in additional generation have encountered problems.
“Some residents tell us that their bills have actually gone up and gone up dramatically even though they were facing load shedding,” he said.
He also referenced the recent death of a family member who, according to Pintard, died while attempting to assist with efforts to restore power.
“Not even a tragedy has moved this government to behave with a sense of urgency to provide relief to the residents of Grand Cay,” Pintard said.
The opposition leader broadened his criticism to include electricity reliability challenges affecting other islands and New Providence.
“I could go on to the residents of New Providence or Eleuthera and other islands facing this crisis,” Pintard said.
“Enough is enough.”
Pintard’s comments come as BPL and the government continue efforts to address electricity reliability problems across the country, including equipment failures, aging infrastructure and increased demand.
The administration has defended its efforts to strengthen the power grid and improve reliability, while BPL has continued to carry out repairs and restoration work following a series of outages.
