kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
For the past week, pensioners who once toiled in the now-defunct Caroni (1975) Limited are filling buckets of water to bathe and buying food after the electricity went out in their St Madeleine community.
The power outage affects 32 households who occupy the company bungalows near the old Ste Madeleine Sugar Factory, which has transformers that supply the community.
But with the 62-year-old installation failing last week, the residents said Caroni left them on their own.
“Ninety per cent of everybody living here are over age 60. Some people are sick at home and need electricity to help them through the day. People who have generators have to spend money on gas. Some people had to give away and dump food from their deep freeze,” Patty Villafana, a resident, said yesterday.
Those who do not have generators buy ice to fill coolers.
Speaking at a resident’s home yesterday, Washington Demas, former president of the Association of Technical, Allied and Supervisory Staff at Caroni, said the company does not want to spend money to maintain the community.
Demas said that Caroni’s voluntary separation packages included the sale of the bungalows to the occupants. However, there were no sales, and the matter was before the court.
Demas explained that the community does not get a direct power supply from the Electricity Commission (T&TEC) but from the old factory.
After the power went out, residents contacted the Caroni, which seemed uninterested in restoring power. He said it was only after the intervention of an attorney that the company agreed to do the work, but they did not know how long the repairs would take.
The critical issue was the ageing infrastructure that the company did not want to replace.
Mahase Heeralal, an electrical engineer, explained that the T&TEC’s high voltage lines powered the factory, which has five transformers to distribute to the areas controlled by Caroni.
Heeralal said four transformers completed their life cycles and the factory only had one left. He said the life of a transformer was usually between 20-25 years.
He added that a leaning utility pole caused a distribution line to the factory to severe. When T&TEC personnel responded, they felt it was unsafe to restore the system.
Apart from living as people did in the previous century, the darkness heightens residents’ fears of crime. Demas said Caroni refuses to deploy security to the area, so everyone hustles home before dark.
Percival Corbett said he bought lunch for the past week as there was no electricity for his refrigerator and other kitchen appliances.
“I tried doubles. I tried roti. I tired eat it. I tried Wing On. We have just been buying food, so the cost of our living, when we do a monthly check, it will be very high. I have to hot water on my stove. It sent me back to when I was in primary school. You full a bucket and throw some warm water from the kettle to get the right temperature, and you have a shower with that,” Corbett said.
Caroni CEO Lionel De Chi said a contractor was on site to restore power to the community.
De Chi said power should return in three days.
