Lead Editor—Newsgathering
kejan.haynes@guardian.co.tt
Twenty-two T&TEC workers are now on the ground in Grenada, helping to rebuild the island’s electrical infrastructure following the passage of Hurricane Beryl. They will remain there for one month as they reinstall poles and breakers in an attempt to restore full power to the island.
The team of 18 workers flew from the Piarco International Airport on Sunday, after they were met by Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales. A team of four supervisors had left earlier with trucks and other equipment.
Gonzales thanked the men for their service but lamented that trips like these may become more commonplace given the perils of climate change.
“The issue of climate change, gentlemen, is very real,” Gonzales said while addressing the contingent, who were decked in bright yellow T&TEC polos with their nicknames emblazoned on the back.
“It is taking a serious toll on utility infrastructure all across the region and around the world. As a matter of fact, we may have to put a pool of resources aside to be able to deal with the impact of climate change on our utility infrastructure, both water and electricity, and all other public infrastructure.”
The minister said the trip will cost the Government $2 million but he said he considers it a necessary cost to help a Caricom brother.
“In other words, this exercise that we are about to undertake, it might be possible that that can be something regular moving forward,” Gonzales stressed.
Trinidad and Tobago has previously sent troops to islands after events like 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, which decimated The Bahamas.
T&TEC general manager Curvis Francois said he didn’t hesitate to act when he was approached by the general manager of Grenada’s power company GRENLEC.
“Because if we were in the same position, we would have wanted help as well,” Francois said.
“So we are going there; and the expectation by the public there is that within a month, because we spend in a month, we’re going to really look at bringing most of the supply back to the island of Carriacou.”
On a lighter note, Gonzales joked with the men that the last time T&TEC workers went to Grenada after a hurricane, they made quite the impression on the citizens there, giving them the name “the men in yellow.”
“I heard y’all represented T&TEC and Trinidad Tobago so well that many of you probably still have families there,” the minister joked.
But back to business, he said T&TEC remains one of the best utility companies in the region and admitted workers aren’t paid enough for the work that they do.
“The people of Trinidad enjoy a lot of subsidies from utilities, and they complain the most, and they even complain a lot about the service from T&TEC,” he said.
“But when you look at all of the reports that coming, that come from the independent commission, which is the RIC, where T&TEC is concerned, T&TEC, on most occasions, if not all of the occasions, surpasses all of the requirements of the RIC.”
Gonzales also thanked the workers for getting Tobago back up and running after the passage of Hurricane Beryl.