Two electrical teams from Jamaica arrived in New Providence yesterday and will travel to Cat Island today to assist the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) in its efforts to restore electricity on that island.
Cat Island is one of the two islands that suffered the most damage in the wake of Hurricane Irene, which knocked down scores of power lines and resulted in a complete loss of electricity on that island.
Up to yesterday less than 30 percent of the electricity on that island had been restored.
The two teams are expected to significantly boost BEC's efforts and speed up the process, the corporation's press officer Arnette Ingraham told The Guardian yesterday.
BEC General Manager Kevin Basden said that it would take at least another three weeks before power is fully restored to all parts of Cat Island.
In addition to the teams that went to Cat Island, Ingraham said that a team from Barbados traveled to Eleuthera to help with restoration efforts in The Bluff, which has been completely without power.
All three teams are a part of the Caribbean Electric Utility Service Corporation (CARILEC), an association of electricity utilities, suppliers, manufacturers and other stakeholders operating in the electricity industry in the Caribbean.
Restoration efforts in the remainder of Eleuthera are about 90 percent complete, Ingraham said.
Ingraham added that service has been restored to all Family Islands with the exception of Abaco, Acklins (Spring Point only), Cat Island, Eleuthera, Exuma and Long Island.
Meantime, the residents without electricity on New Providence have a broad set of challenges, some unrelated to Hurricane Irene, Ingraham said.
Hurricane Irene stormed through The Bahamas two weeks ago.  While New Providence and Grand Bahama were spared from major damage, scores of Family Island residents suffered damage to their homes.  In addition to electrical supplies, water and telecommunication supplies were also disrupted as a result of the Irene's passage.

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