Christmas back on for North Coast villagers

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Christmas will be merry for villagers along the North Coast as electricity and water returned to the areas which were left in the dark for over four days by a power outage.

The areas affected were the villages of Maracas, Las Cuevas, La Fillette and Blanchisseuse.

The villagers, who are part of some 250 households, were upset on Tuesday after remaining without electricity for days and to add to their woes, many of them could only watch as their Christmas food supplies, in particular their festive meats all spoiled.

But as promised by the Minister of Public Utilities, Marvin Gonzales electricity and water returned to the communities on Wednesday night.

On Christmas Eve, many residents were busy making last-minute preparations for the holidays and were elated to have both electricity and water in the areas.

One villager told us that she is happy that she can now celebrate the holidays with her family. She added that while she did suffer losses, she will not pursue compensation from the authorities since what she lost was “not that much.”

Another resident, who is a shop keeper told Guardian Media that he too is happy for the return of power and water.

He said although there was no electricity he was able to salvage his Christmas meats and yesterday he began to thaw them out as his holiday cooking got underway.

He said some other shop owners were not that as lucky and had to dump their stock.

However, the shop keeper said they are all just grateful to continue life and enjoy the holidays with the family.

On Thursday few T&TEC crews were in the areas since power was restored to all homes but Guardian Media was told crews will be continuing maintenance work in the areas.

In addition, all the mobile substations which were supplying limited power to the villagers were all placed on the Maracas Bay to be relocated.

Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission TTEC confirmed that on Sunday 20 December, at around 10 am, a large tree in the forested area between Santa Cruz and North Coast Road, Maracas, came crashing down causing significant damage to its infrastructure.

This resulted in a major disruption in the electrical supply to residents along the North Coast of the country.

Minister Gonzales and Member of Parliament for St Ann’s East, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly both apologised to residents affected and assured compensation where necessary.