A power outage yesterday October 4, 2012 forced the early closure of several businesses on Main Street. Photo: VINO

This news site was unable to get an official comment from the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC). Photo: VINO/File

According to one resident, the power went out at around 4 P.M and lasted for close to two hours.

A couple of businesses also confirmed this and stated that they, along with several other businesses, were forced to cease operations in an early manner, which was a major inconvenience to business and customers.

Virgin Islands News Online sought to contact the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) to get a comment but was only told by an employee that he was aware there was a power outage in the Main Street area but that it was restored. He could not say what had caused the outage.

Efforts to contact General Manager of BVIEC, Leroy Abraham and Deputy Manager, Henry Creque, were unsuccessful.

Residents and business alike in the Main Street area have often complained about frequent power outages with the most notable occurring on the evening of August 18, 2012 and which lasted for several hours reportedly due to a defective transformer.

Residents had been unable to use their basic electrical equipment such as household appliances and computers and were frustrated at the fact that the problem was taking long to be resolved. One resident Ms Eugenia O’Neal had said she had called several workers at the distribution offices to find out what had been happening and had been continuously unsuccessful at getting any satisfactory responses.

She expressed that “the first time I called they said it was the feeder,” electricity briefly returned in the morning and went off again almost immediately, “I called again [in the evening] and they said it was the transformer that blew”.  “They said they’re working hard but I didn’t expect this,” she complained, “this happened about two weeks ago... and that lasted for about nine hours around the time of the Festival”. 

Ms O’Neal, revealed her frustration about being unable to work from home as she normally does and said “I use my computer and I can’t use my computer and I’m hoping that nothing has gone wrong with it because it was in the afternoon when I was trying to get on [to work] that it went off again.” “I think we’ve got to get the basics right before dreaming up grand plans.” 

Another resident, who is a seamstress, had said customers had come for clothing and had to be turned away because items could not be completed due to the power outage. 

Workers at a nearby business had also said “People come to the store and think it’s closed.”  “We have had to write [receipts], going back to the olden days”. They expressed severe discomfort at the heat and the loss of business that came as a result of the power outage. 

Another source told this news site that barbers were made to move all the way to the main road at Purcell to get their work done.