July 14, 2005

Dear Sir,

We never really appreciate the value of a utility until we no longer have it. Today?s mishap at Belco tossed the entire Island into a tailspin. We were all very understanding and patient, knowing that Belco as it always does will do it?s level best to restore power.

Five years ago I wrote a tribute to our local heroes. With your permission I would like to publish this tribute once again to Bermuda?s Finest ? Mr. Gary Madeiros and his crew:

?The crew in blue, the crew in blue,

when we?re in the dark, the sure come through.

Always there Rain, Blow or Shine.

Restoring power on their mind.

Their outrageous bill I?ll gladly pay.

Oh! what a crew!

?Those men in Blue?.?

Thank you Belco. JOSHUA RICHARDSON

Pembroke

July 15, 2005

Dear Sir,

Belco must have the only unmanned power plant in the world. I can?t believe that when this million dollar plant, gets to an overload point, there is no alarm, monitoring or supervision. Sounds like some one fell asleep at the wheel, or, was not AT the wheel.

Belco may claim no ?human error?, which sounds good for insurance purposes, but come on ! The cost to the island goes into the millions, business, retail, payroll etc. What is needed is an inquiry, not a nice politically correct committee (the usual), either.

The country is sick of losing power, at the sign of high winds,etc not hurricane, high winds. Any private company would be hauled over the coals for this.

BLACK, OILY, GREASE-COVERED BIKE

Devonshire

July 18, 2005

Dear Sir,

In the matter of the Island-wide blackout, while it might seem churlish in the face of Belco?s strenuous and well-publicised and public inclusive efforts to recover, the independent investigation recommended by Quinton Edness would be timely and appropriate.

The reasons for this are several. First, the service is a monopoly and thus should be comprehensively reviewed on a regular basis to assure everyone that plant and distribution systems, and financial and systems planning for the future, is adequate and appropriate. It probably is, but an independent opinion would be assuring. Second, due to the very significant cost of electricity, whether it is being supplied at the best possible rate. It may well be, but again an independent review might well reveal inefficiencies. Third, whether maintenance schedules are stringently observed, and that there is a thorough inspection procedure to ensure these are properly carried out. Of the three reasons for a full investigation, this latter point may be the most important.

Some in the Hamilton workforce may recall an incident where half the city was blacked out some years ago. The fault was traced to a breaker that failed to open in an electrical vault under Reid Street causing other breakers to trip all the way back to the plant. It was found that the vault in question had obviously not been inspected for years because, when after the power to it had been shut down to it, no one was able to prise open the corroded breaker in question, or indeed the other two in the vault.

While normally it would be appropriate for the Government to organise such an investigation, it has been unable to maintain even the Government water supply, or build a basically simple school, both infinitely less complex tasks than the suggested review. Besides, this investigation needs to be carried out now, and completed soon, not delayed endlessly by the employment of incompetents.

A solution that will not be popular in some circles would be to have the Governor approach the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for independent technical assistance.

BLACKED OUT

St. George?s

July 18, 2005

Dear Sir,

It was good to hear on the news this evening that an independent inquiry will take place into the Belco malfunction.

However, we need another independent enquiry into the Government?s actions after the blackout.

Yes, it was correct to call a meeting of the EMO and get the Emergency Measures Radio on the air until such time as the commercial stations were able to get back on the air. Was it correct to close down ALL government offices until the electricity was restored? Whilst I can understand the reasons for closing down the offices in Hamilton, due to lack of power, I cannot understand why the other departments which had electricity were also closed. I had a package which needed to be posted and with the GPO closed I went to one of the sub Post Offices where the lights were on but there was a ?Closed? sign on the door. A friend of mine went to another sub Post Office to collect a package, and he was told that they were only handing out the pension cheques in spite of the fact that he could see his package on the shelf. I commend the postal staff for letting the pensioners get their cheques, but they get a big raspberry for not doing business if they were open.

There was absolutely no reason whatsoever for all Government departments to be closed. The Department of Agriculture do not need electricity for their employees to attend to the parks and cut grass. The other cancellation was the tour around town of the Island?s cricketers and now I hear it will be held later in the week. This means that the cricketers will have another day off when businesses are already suffering due to the blackout. It would have been so much better to have had the ceremony and motorcade on Friday when few people were working. They would have had a larger attendance than later this week. Yes, we do need another enquiry into the way Government handled the situation.

ANTONY SIESE

City of Hamilton

July 15, 2005

Dear Sir,

I was interested to see that Quinton Edness has called for an independent inquiry into the Belco fire and subsequent Island-wide outages.

Belco, as a monopoly, has a critical responsibility to Bermuda to ensure such an inquiry is carried out. An international, independent, risk management company, with expertise in the specialist field of energy supply, should be asked to evaluate both the incident itself and Belco?s Disaster Recovery Plan and Operational Procedures.

I have every sympathy for the high stress and difficult circumstances Mr. Gary Madeiros and all the Belco employees are currently working under and they are to be commended for their commitment to the restoration of power to the rest of the Island. But the bottom line is that Bermuda was only a hair?s breadth away from a disaster which could have dramatically affected the economy of this island and the wellbeing of all Bermudians.

I understand there have been millions of dollars of damage to Belco?s plant, but I am sure if a survey was carried out on businesses island-wide it would be seen that the losses generated by this outage run into many more millions. I urge the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Bermuda International Companies to survey their members to gain some idea as to the losses involved, and I urge Belco and the Bermuda Government to pursue the option of an Independent Inquiry as soon as possible.

LYNNE WINFIELD

Sandys