Bahamas Power and Light Company Ltd. continues to experience supply issues in New Providence following an island wide outage on Tuesday (November 29, 2016) night.

A major underground cable fault is to blame for the initial outage that caused a complete shutdown of BPL's generation, transmission, and distribution networks on the island. To quickly restore power to customers, BPL has put in place temporary measures but its efforts are strongly centered on locating the damaged underground cable and carrying out repairs immediately. BPL anticipates that once repairs are complete, its services should return to normal.

In the mean time, due to the back-up measures currently being utilized, BPL advises customers that they may experience intermittent challenges with their power supply until operations have stabilized.

BPL understands the frustration of its customers and is presently working on several solutions that will help improve reliability as soon as possible. Further, the company advises that it will try to give customers as much advanced warning as possible given the present instability.

BPL apologizes to its customers and assures them that it is working to find immediate solutions to this problem and long term strategies to prevent a reoccurrence.

Across The Bahamas, the holiday’s wouldn’t be complete without spending time with the family decorating your home to bring in the festive season. The Water and Sewerage Corporation wants to help spread more cheers this year by rewarding the best decorated house on the block.

Once again, the Corporation is hoping to spread Christmas cheer with its ‘Christmas House Decoration Contest’. The contest is open to all customers of the Water and Sewerage Corporation and is free to enter, but requires participants to sign an entry form before December 16th.  Finding the form is easy on their website or Facebook page, but winning the grand prize of a $1,000 for the best decorated house means making your home dazzle.

According to Visna Armbrister, Public Affairs Manager at the Water and Sewerage Corporation, the judges of the Christmas House Decoration Contest will reward the customer with the grand prize money for the house that has the greatest “curb appeal”, based on the look of the exterior of the home from the street.

Armbrister further explained that houses will be judged in three categories, “i. unique design and creative use of lights and decorations; ii. display and placement of decorations and iii. overall presentation.” Adding, “we all have driven across the island and have seen some beautifully decorated homes, so we decided to reward one of our great WSC customers for the time and effort making their home shine bright. Surely everyone could use the extra thousand dollars in their pockets too.”

In addition to the grand prize money, the Corporation will also give the first 25 entries to the contest, a credit valued at $25, for just signing up.

“We recognized that many communities and household are still in recovery mode after the hurricane and many are concentrating on home repairs,” said Armbrister. “But for those who can join in, we invite them to get into the Christmas Spirit and spread the joy of festivity with lights and decorations. We're hoping the Community will make an effort and join us as we spruce up and decorate for the season.”

The contest is also open to Family Island customers and local judges will be chosen to help find the best decorated home in The Bahamas.

Entry deadline is December 16th, 2016 with judging to be done before December 20th, 2016 with winners announced on Facebook.

Full entry rules and application forms are available on the Corporation’s website or at the Corporation head office on Thompson Blvd.

Source: Water and Sewerage Corporation

The protest staged yesterday at the Freeport Industrial Park.

A GROUP of concerned residents staged a protest in the Freeport Industrial Park area on Tuesday over the alleged ongoing industrial pollution that they feel affects the nearby communities in which they live.

A coffin was put on display while protestors chanted and held placards along West Sunrise Highway, near Pharma Chem, Buckeye/BORCO, and the Grand Bahama Power Company’s new generation plant.

Due to inclement weather, the protest was slightly delayed but got underway shortly after noon, and several police officers were on standby. Some passing motorists honked their horns in support of the protestors.

Employees at Pharma Chem and BORCO could be seen outside at their respective plants watching the protest as residents called for the government, Minister for Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville, and the Grand Bahama Port Authority to “protect the people”.

Some of the signs read: “Government neglecting residents,” “Relocate Residents Now,” and “Stop Reckless Waste Dumping.”

For more than 30 years, the residents of Pinder’s Point, Lewis Yard, Hawksbill, and the surrounding communities, have complained of exposure to strong chemical odours, as well as alleged oil and chemical spills in the area.

They believe that years of exposure have resulted in the deaths of residents in their communities, many of whom have died of cancer. Additionally, they complain of respiratory illnesses, skin, nose and eye irritations.

In 1989, two schools were relocated from the area, and about two years ago, the Lewis Yard Primary School was moved by government to Hunters after teachers and students continued to become ill from ongoing emissions.

The Grand Bahama Environmental Association (Pinder’s Point/Lewis Yard Environmental Committee) led by Chairman Berthram Pinder, said that residents have been taken for granted for too long by government, the Grand Bahama Port Authority, and the industrial plants.

When asked the significance of the coffin, he said: “It is symbolic of all those persons who have died from our communities of cancer and other related diseases. It is just to draw attention to the industrial plants, the government, and the Grand Bahama Port Authority that we as residents have had enough and we want to see results.

“We have been taken for granted, put on the back burner, and they have done nothing over the past 35 years simply because we have been tolerant and passive, and it is now time for us to be a little more vocal and a little more outgoing, and that’s what we intend to do over the next few months, and even the year to come,” Mr. Pinder said.

The residents want some sort of settlement for their land and to be relocated from the area. They feel that the issues have not been sufficiently addressed in the past by successive governments, which have been aware of residents’ complaints of living in close proximity to the industrial plants.

In December 2014, the government contracted World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to conduct an environmental and health risk assessment study of the Pinder’s Point/Lewis Yard area. The year-long study ended on November 30, 2015.

The report, which indicated that there is no environmental or health risks to the residents by the industrial companies, has been rejected by the residents.

At Tuesday’s protest, Shuffel Hepburn was very critical of the industrial plants and the government.

The association, Mr. Hepburn said, has written to Prime Minister Perry Christie outlining their concerns, but has received no response for more than a month.

They have also written to Buckeye asking for the company’s standard operating procedures.

“They too have not responded; all we want to know is how they plan to protect our people when they have chemical spills, oil spills, and hydrogen sulfide in greater concentrations than legally allowed,” Mr. Hepburn said.

He added that people in the affected communities are discouraged.

“This has been going on for so long without any results and some of them have given up, unfortunately, but we are reawakening their energy by their desire to see this problem solved,” he said.

Representatives and security officers at BORCO had placed rubber cones and security officers at its entrance to prevent any possible access to its plant by protestors. Police officers were also stationed at the entrance of the Pharma Chem plant.

By Denise Maycock, Tribune Freeport Reporter

BAHAMIAN and US authorities made a $4m drug seizure and arrested one of four suspects yesterday in East Grand Bahama.

According to police reports, officers of the Drug Enforcement Unit and US counterparts were on air patrol in the Sweeting’s Cay area around noon when they intercepted a boat with four men and four large packages of suspected drugs.

One of the suspects, believed to be from Freeport, was arrested, but three others escaped.

Some 170 kilos of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of $4m were discovered and seized by authorities. Police are investigating.

By Denise Maycock, Tribune Freeport Reporter