Dear Editor,

I thought that with the arrival of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) we were supposed to have improved service at a lower price, delivered through a modern system. After all, they are a big American company and are supposed to have experience in cutting-edge service.

After my experience following Hurricane Matthew and that of all my relatives and friends, I can tell you BPL can go back where it came from as far as I am concerned. Please give us the old BEC back!

I understand that you can't change the whole system overnight and it will take years and serious investment to get the power system to where it needs to be. But for goodness sake, we should not be going backwards. This is without a doubt the worst response to a hurricane from BEC that I have ever seen in my 57 years on this Earth.

People at BEC say that arrogance is the cause, that BPL managers think they know everything and don't want any advice from Bahamians with experience because they feel they are superior, better educated, etc. Personally, I have been in a similar situation myself with a foreign boss and the results were a disaster.

We may not be on the cutting edge of everything, but there is nothing that can replace local knowledge and on-the-ground experience. Bahamians know their country and how it works. They know their jobs and the industries in which they are employed. And BEC workers with decades of experience know what needs to be done after a hurricane.

Of course things need to improve, but you don't get there by throwing the baby out with the bath water. So BPL, if we really have to be stuck with you, please try and learn a lesson from this and next time try mixing your modern expertise with some good old-fashioned local experience.

- Pretty Molly

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