The entire PomeroonSupenaam Region was plunged into darkness on Thursday evening after the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Caterpillar generating units experienced a “communication breakdown,” which led to a reset of the system at Anna Regina.

The power shut-off occurred at 17:00 hours and lasted almost 11 hours across the entire coast. According to information reaching Stabroek News, the five Caterpillar units usually would communicate via a software system, however one of the units failed and a factory reset occurred. This newspaper was also informed that nothing physical occurred on the units and that it was merely a software communication issue.

To solve the problem, GPL flew in engineers from Georgetown to access the units and a reset was done around 04:00 hrs on Friday.

The sudden shutdown forced businesses utilise their stand-by generators to keep perishables frozen, and caused many families and businesses inconvenience in the region.

The owner of Otia’s

Roosters Coconut Water owner, Rupan Ramotar had to find alternative means to ensure that his bottles of coconut water were kept at the right temperature.

And Tulisdai Persaud, a vendor, stated, “I had

chicken that I plucked to go sell at Anna Regina Market. The sudden shut down had caused me to go look for ice late in the night.”

Owners of several pubs along the Essequibo coast

had to close early due to the power outage. The sudden shutdown had

In addition, many families had to sleep in discomfort as fans and air conditioning units became inoperable.