SOMETIMES LITTLE THINGS can cause you to go into deep reflection.
Such was the case following the diversion and disruption of vehicular traffic for a few hours on the Spring Garden Highway on Friday after the power lines came down, having been damaged by a falling tree.
It was frustrating for many motorists and inconvenient for some pedestrians using that Black Rock road which became clogged up with vehicles. Getting a Transport Board bus, Minibus or ZR must have been a vexing issue. But safety had to be the priority consideration.
It became rather apparent while sitting in the almost snail-pace traffic on Black Rock main road for well over 20 minutes what would happen to this little island if there were to be a major disaster.
Just think about the fall out if a hurricane struck the island, and power lines came down all across the island. To make matters worse, if there is flooding and serious storm surges on the west coast, specifically at Brighton, Black Rock, or at the Gravesend, where the Barbados Light & Power has two major plants.
Despite the Barbados Light & Power’s good track record and the tremendous support it gets from those private companies which plants its poles, the public must wonder what would happen in such scenarios. Obviously, the BL&P would have mapped a plan in reaction to such risks.
Hopefully such mitigation planning would take to consideration the likely if there is widespread damage to property across the island. The concerns would be whether those usually dependable workers who will do everything in normal circumstances to get things up and running, will be able to cope if they themselves are victims.
But, let’s not be too pessimistic. The workers may go way beyond the call of duty in such circumstances.
However, that well known adage: better be prepared than sorry, which is often repeated in the lead up to and during the hurricane season should also be applied to how we look at our lone power generation and distribution operation.
Electricity is so critical to us that we really do not appreciate that we could not easily survive with a power-outage lasting more than 18 hours. Just imagine having no “current” from 6 a.m. until midnight. The water supply will most likely be affected; mobile telephone services and landlines too, while the radio stations may be off the air. It could throw us into an unknown world. But suppose the outages were for an even longer period.
This tree caused a power outage in sections of Spring Garden, Black Rock and surrounding areas.
What would be the backup plan for the Queen Elizabeth and Bay View hospitals? If Barbados had such a prolonged outage are the Police, Fire Service, Defence Force and the Emergency Ambulance Service equipped to respond in such circumstances? What really does the national emergency response plan say about such circumstances and why the public is not informed?
As a tourist destination it would be interesting to know whether the members of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association have back-up plans in place just in case the national grid was affected for a week. What would happen to many, many Barbadians who can’t afford a generator and the diesel or an alternate energy system with the necessary back up batteries?
Perhaps the Town Planning Department should up its demands of housing developers by asking that any new project has all the utilities underground. It would be interesting to hear from those businesses offering renewable power systems how hurricane proof they are and what would be the restoration time after any such disaster.
In some European countries, the power lines that connect homes to the grids are often underground, protecting them from certain elements. Our rich neighbour to the north, United States, many of the big power suppliers have balked at taking this approach citing costs to the customer. They prefer to clean up afterwards.
We need a commonsense approach in Barbados which is why it is an issue which must be left to a vocal few like Bizzy Williams and Andrew Bynoe. The wider public, must address the issue. It is something the Town Planning Department and the Town Planning Society, along with the Fair Trading Commission should all let their voices be heard.
Barbados cannot afford to have an electrical grid that is vulnerable to high winds and floods, or even falling trees. Yes, there is no foolproof system, but all possible measures must be taken to defend the nation power grid. We have never experienced a long –lasting power outage and simply don’t understand the fall-out.