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Electricity company, DOMLEC, is coming under increased fire from angry customers over a series of power cuts, similar to what took place last year which at times brought the country to a standstill.<\/p>\n
In recent times, DOMLEC began posting announcements on social media of the power cuts which it said is for “load management purposes.”<\/p>\n
As the days went by, the announcements became more frequent, showing that the cuts were affecting large swathes of the island. In some cases, the power went off for extended periods without an alert from DOMLEC, or the alert was posted the evening before the cuts.<\/p>\n
This has not been going down well with many Dominicans, who took to social media to express their disgust and frustration.<\/p>\n
“Dominica Electricity Services Ltd. Please have a press conference to let the people know what is going on,” one person wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n
“You all cannot just inconvenience people just like that with a notice the evening before. Get u all act together and do things right! People are paying their long money for a service, is not freeness. Tell the people what is really going on. Geez man.”<\/p>\n
Under pressure, DOMLEC said it will be addressing the matter on a special hour-long program on state-owned DBS Radio on Tuesday at 6:00 pm but many Dominicans remain skeptical. Some prefer a press conference.<\/p>\n
“So DOMLEC just start putting out list and didnt at least have the courtesy to hold a press conference to inform customers to say we back to load shedding and why we back to this torture,” another wrote. “That’s not how it’s done.”<\/p>\n
Others said the company was just using the fancy term “load management” instead of just “load shedding” to hide its inefficiency.<\/p>\n
“People are really and truly fed up with Domlec,” another wrote of Facebook.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit appears to be distancing himself and his government from the problems plaguing DOMLEC, which was acquired by his government in 2022. Back then he said the acquisition was part of his vision “of a dynamic Dominica.”<\/p>\n
“DOMLEC is a private company,” he said at a press conference on Monday.<\/p>\n
“I have intervened in the past because it had [become] a national issue and we have done a number of things to assist DOMLEC.”<\/p>\n
He stated that the company was given a new generator owned by the government and resources were mobilized to purchase a 4.8 megawatts generator for the company.<\/p>\n
“My understanding is that this generator is being worked on and to add to the grid,” he remarked.<\/p>\n
“But I believe the main issue as far as I have seen from DOMLEC is that the hydro went down and of course has placed a strain on the other diesel generators.”<\/p>\n
Skerrit also stated that he is leaving the details of the matter for DOMLEC to address.<\/p>\n
“I think they have a duty and obligation to answer to the public on what’s going on and what are the actions they are taking to have the situation remedied,” he said.<\/p>\n
Last year, Dominica was plagued by a series of power cuts which DOMLEC ultimately blamed for insufficient generation. The matter was seemingly brought under control with government intervention in time for the country’s 45th Independence celebration. DOMLEC also said several measures were put in place to have the country return to normalcy by early December last year.<\/p>\n
Hence, many Dominicans were surprised when the cuts started again recently.<\/p>\n
“Dominicans deserve to know why we are back to load shedding!!” one wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n
“It can’t be due to lack of rain. You all said you were getting new generator(s) and yet here we are in 2024 with the same BS from last year! Your customers deserve to know why this nonsense is back! And back at the hottest time of the year!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Electricity company, DOMLEC, is coming under increased fire from angry customers over a series of power cuts, similar to what took place last year which at times brought the country to a standstill. In recent times, DOMLEC began posting announcements…","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":325902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[279,286,235,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-325901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-governance","category-homepage-carousel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n