BL&P was ready, says boss

Barbados Light & Power Company (BL&P) is rubbishing claims that it was caught napping and unprepared for the passing of Hurricane Elsa last Friday.

Up to yesterday, the Canadian-owned utility company reported it had restored power to more than 85 per cent of the customers who lost electricity in the early morning hours of Friday, when Elsa, a Category 1 hurricane, affected the island, destroying 145 houses with more than 2 300 reports of damage.

The company has been heavily criticised about the perceived slow process of power being returned in the days that followed, with about 20 000 customers still without electricity yesterday.

“We are very, very prepared for hurricanes,” managing director Roger Blackman told a press conference held yesterday at the National Emergency Operations Centre, located at the headquarters of the Department of Emergency Management, Warrens, St Michael. (BA)

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