The general manager of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, Kevin Basden, said yesterday that the corporation would spend $3 million to rent 20 megawatts of generators from a European firm for 13 weeks in a bid to prevent future power outages.  Over the past few months, frequent blackouts have occurred in New Providence and some Family Islands.

BEC has said it could not afford to carry out scheduled maintenance on some of its generators earlier.  Therefore, when peak summer demand came there was not enough supply, as generators failed.  "If we are able to maintain this position, coupled with the 20MW of stand-by generators that we are installing, we believe we [would be] on a stronger footing than we were in the past few weeks.  We hope to continue on this path," said Basden.

We hope this temporary measure works.  In a modern society it is unacceptable for frequent power outages to occur.  It is difficult to conduct business, and to do mundane everyday activities, if the power goes off all the time.  Both commercial and residential consumers suffer damage to equipment due to the constant outages and activation of the supply.

We have said before that the government should relinquish full control over BEC. It could be fully privatized with the government assuming all or most of its debt in order to make the corporation attractive; or it could be partially privatized with the partner assuming managerial control of the supplier with the government being a minority partner.  Another option would be to allow private companies to open up and also supply power in New Providence.

The key though, no matter what the government decides to do about the ownership of BEC, is that it and BEC's management must move beyond thinking that regular outages are acceptable.  They are not.  And the goal should be for there to be constant and consistent supply throughout the year.

In developed jurisdictions power outages are virtually unheard of. They only occur due to catastrophic weather conditions or catastrophic systems failures. Here in The Bahamas it is currently a seasonal certainty that rolling blackouts will occur in the summers.

The surprising number of job training applications

The government revealed yesterday that 12,800 people applied to be in its new job training program.  It had revealed previously that the number was high, but it was surprising to know how high.  The high number of applicants indicates that the unemployment rate in The Bahamas remains quite high.  The last numbers released in 2009 revealed that the jobless rate in New Providence was above 14 percent, and in Grand Bahama the rate was above 17 percent.

Bahamians always pressure the government to 'fix' the economy and find jobs for the unemployed.  However, workers also have a role to play.  Bahamians must remember that there is no right to a job.  Once given an opportunity at a job employees should come to work on time, demonstrate initiative, be honest and not steal from the business, and not complain constantly about salary before even demonstrating ability and dedication.

Many want jobs, but do not want to work.  We hope those who get a chance at employment via this program realize that it is up to them to demonstrate to employers that they have the drive and capacity to help the business achieve its goals.  Those who just want a job to collect a paycheck, without doing more than the bare minimum, may find themselves out of work again soon.  In this down economy jobs are scare.  Workers have to fight hard to secure and then hold on to jobs.

It has been confirmed that more than 90 people have contracted dengue fever, according to Minister of Health Dr. Hubert Minnis.  Though the number of people visiting local clinics fearing they may have contracted dengue fever is rising, Dr. Minnis told The Nassau Guardian yesterday that there is no cause for alarm.

However, he said the Ministry of Health will begin to issue frequent updates to the public about the spread of the virus, as it did yesterday.  Dengue fever is transmitted through the bite of the aedes aegypti mosquito. The Department of Environmental Health Services said last Wednesday that fogging had commenced throughout New Providence and some of the Family Islands in order to reduce the mosquito population.

The Ministry of Health warned in its statement yesterday that individuals should take steps to reduce mosquito breeding grounds around their homes by removing all standing water in discarded cans, bottles, and tires and draining water from the base of planters.  Dr. Minnis said last week that people should also use approved household insecticides and ensure that windows and door screens around their houses are properly sealed.

"Once you do your part and we do our part, we will keep the mosquito population down," he said.
Emile Lesbott, 55, who became infected with dengue fever Saturday told The Nassau Guardian yesterday that he would not wish the illnesss on anyone.  In addition to muscle aches and headaches, he said he developed a dislike for the taste of food.  

"I came down with the chills then spiking fevers and then what happens is that the virus somehow interferes with the blood stream and changes the way you taste food," Lesbott said. "It was like I was naturally fasting."  Though Lesbott was hospitalized for a few days, he overcame the virus as most people do.  Dengue hemorrhagic fever is the most deadly form of the disease and it is not common in The Bahamas.  Lesbott said his son also contracted dengue fever, while his daughter only showed symptoms.

Remarks by The Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, Prime Minister E-Government Portal Launch, Thursday, July 28, 2011 Today marks a significant milestone for The Bahamas.  Beginning today we are implementing a new way for the Public to do business with the Government.  Today we change the concept of service delivery by moving government services from the counter only to the computer screen also.   Today we begin E-Government in The Bahamas. This is a fundamental change that could have tremendous benefits for our country. Today we live in a world where technology is driving business and service delivery.  E-Government is not new in the world. It has been around for many years. In fact, countries are ranked by the United Nations for their implementation of, and maturity in e-Government. Today, The Bahamas is only ranked 65 out of more than 180 countries.  We want to change that. Our vision for The Bahamas is that investing in the use of technology to deliver public services (education, health, financial, etc.) will catapult our nation forward in the delivery of services to the Bahamian public. Our vision is that the Government's substantial progress in implementation of E-Government will serve as a catalyst to drive a new wave of the use of technology in all facets of the Bahamian economy.

Selects Nokia Siemens Networks' platforms and services to launch voice over cable

Nassau,  Bahamas - Cable Bahamas, the leading cable and broadband service provider in the Bahamas, will soon be the first in the islands to offer high-quality, attractively priced IP telephony service over cable networks. The company has selected Nokia Siemens Networks' voice over cable (VoC) softswitch platform to roll out the services.

"We are seeing an increased demand for converged communications services among our subscribers," said Tony Butler, chief executive officer and president...