BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE level of frustration experienced by residents of the Kittstoddart area as a result of the unbelievably frequent power outages is at an all time high.
As many may not know, Kittstoddart is a small residential area located just below the defunct Sugar Factory and is sometimes referred to as Factory, and as understood by this publication, receives its electricity supply from an "old time" transformer that was once used by the factory itself.
For quite some time, whenever there have been numerous electricity outages in that area, the residents would have to make a phone call to the Power Station informing the workers there of the outage as often they are quite unaware of their predicament.
Speaking to one such resident, she voiced her dissatisfaction with the treatment being meted out to the residents, stating that she does not understand why they have to go through such an ordeal.
"As if it is not bad enough that we seem to have more electricity outages than other areas around the island, but it is quite unacceptable when we have to go hours without electricity and when it gets unbearable we call the Power Station only to find out that they did not even know we were out of electricity," she explained.
The resident went on to speak about one specific incident when the electricity went out and upon realising that the other neighbouring areas had received electricity, she put in a call to the Power Station and the response she received was outrageous.
"There was this one night when current went, and long after, I realised Taylors and the surrounding areas had gotten back their current but not us, so I called. A lady picked up and when I explained to her, her response was, 'I forget to check to make sure you all had electricity'. This was hours after the electricity went out. It has gotten to the point where as soon as the power goes out, I call them.
"Now-a-days, when we call, they ask us 'where is Kittstoddart?'. I even wonder if it's different people they have working there now because once ago the workers knew exactly where Kittstoddart is," said.
She also gave another example of "crappy" service they were receiving.
"Just recently there was an outage; this happened around 8:00 p.m. and we tried for hours to get in contact with someone at the Power Station. Finally we got them around midnight and they said they would send the maintenance guys there to check out the problem.
"One hour later we called again because we saw no signs of the guys or the electricity, and then they told us that the men would not be coming out until the morning, so we had to go through the entire night without electricity," she voiced.
Another Kittstoddart resident also spoke out about his dissatisfaction with the service being received by the neighbourhood.
"This is just unacceptable! Once ago we never used to have these many power outages, but now, it is utter ridiculous. And then to have to call to get back current is more than ridiculous. My electricity goes out and I have to call my service provider and tell them my electricity is out, and majority of the time they are not even aware of the problem.
"They have to come better than this! You mean to tell me they bring this company talking about how they are going to provide a better service and we, the residents who live closest to the Power Station have to deal with this calamity? They really need to come better than this," the outraged resident said.
The residents said that they do not get so much as an explanation as to why they have to make a phone call to the Power Station in order to get back their electricity once it has been out, which they said is not good customer service.
This publication had spoken to an official of the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKELEC), who simply stated that the Company is aware of the situation which the residents are faced with and that they are working to have the issue sorted as soon as possible.
The official could not provide further details as to why the residents have to call the Power Station every time their electricity is interrupted but advised the residents to continue calling whenever their electricity supply is turned off to ensure that the relevant SKELEC workers are aware and also to ensure that it is returned.
So as SKELEC claims to work hard to rectify the situation, the residents if Kittstoddart remain unmoved and uncomforted by the Company's words, and continue to voice their dissatisfaction with the numerous and lengthy power outages and the fact that if a phone call is not made to the Power Station, they would not get their electricity back.
