Christie's circus at BEC

Tue, Mar 17th 2015, 01:11 AM

Residents of New Providence are still recovering from a miserable few days. A fire at the Blue Hills power station of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) on Friday led to the island being without electricity for most of the weekend.
This is just the latest meltdown for BEC. Last summer, the corporation had a series of system collapses that left New Providence residents in the dark.

On Sunday, Leslie Miller, BEC's executive chairman, said the fire started as a result of "neglect" and that the whole incident could have been avoided. He added that the BEC workers who failed to do their jobs would suffer the consequences. This angered the president of the line staff union of BEC. Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) President Paul Maynard yesterday issued Prime Minister Perry Christie an ultimatum: Get rid of Miller or the union would not cooperate with BEC's reform process.

The country is waiting on Christie to make his decision on energy sector reform. Nearly three years of his five-year term in office have passed and he has not yet decided what he wants to do. On March 4, Christie acknowledged the importance of making a decision soon and said, "The ball is in my court." He promised to finalize the matter in the "shortest possible time".

In the interim, the relationship between Miller and the union has collapsed. After Miller blamed the workers for the weekend meltdown, Maynard went on the offensive. Yesterday he called in to the several radio talk shows and said he does not have to listen to "jackasses", referring to Miller.

In November, Miller basically said to this newspaper that Maynard could drop dead, for all he cares, during a heated row over an industrial agreement. Miller disagreed with the deal the government extended to the union. He was not present at the contract signing.

What is happening at BEC is unacceptable. The corporation is broke. Its machinery and network are archaic. The executive chairman and the union president are nearly at blows, exchanging insults through the media. And where is the prime minister? What is he doing? What does he think of all this? Is it normal to him? Does he care?

The Bahamian people do care, even if he does not. The cost of the power BEC provides is outrageous. Blackouts are the norm. It is the responsibility of the prime minister to lead on this issue - and to lead decisively and in a timely manner.


Sweeping reform is needed at BEC - massive investment too. Professionalism must be restored at the organization. What we have heard from Miller and Maynard is improper, to say the least. With no announced plan and no way forward, this current mess at BEC is Christie's circus. What a sad state for our country to be in.

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