A former Home Affairs Minister has demanded that Government hold an independent inquiry into the events at Belco.

Quinton Edness said yesterday that Premier Alex Scott should be sufficiently concerned for the welfare of the people of Bermuda to demand an independent inquiry and CEO Garry Madeiros should be concerned enough to welcome an independent look at Belco?s operations and systems.

Mr. Edness said he had been discussing the disaster of last week with members of the community and many felt that this did not have to happen.

?For Belco to say that it was a human fault, that?s true, any system can fail, but you have to do everything you can to prevent it from failing,? the long-time United Bermuda Party minister said. ?The excuses they have given us about one switchboard overloading begs the question. Why was this switchboard allowed to overload??

He added that surely the engineers knew this could happen and should have guarded against it.

?And why is if it one switching board overloads it causes the whole Island to lose electrical power??

He said from an engineering point of view this did not need to happen.

?Belco as a private company has obligations to its shareholders, but because it is the only power company in Bermuda, a monopoly, it has a higher responsibility to the people of Bermuda,? he said.

Mr. Edness said it concerned him that Belco did not seem to have any long-term plans.

?Last summer they told us they did not have the capacity to service the Island and we should cut down on our use of electricity and if we did not, they would cut us off. ?Fortunately they were able to work with some of their corporate clients and it was not necessary to cut supply from residences, but raised the question why had they not prepared their capacity to properly supply Bermuda during the summer months??

He added that it concerned him that no one had questioned this and he took very little comfort in Mr. Scott saying on radio that Mr. Madeiros called him very early about the fire because he had his personal number, adding: ?That doesn?t mean anything!?

Adding that what everyone wants to know is why it happened and what must be done to prevent it from happening again.

Mr. Edness said he did not think it was ?satisfactory? for Mr. Madeiros to tell the public Belco?s version of what happened.

?We need an independent group of experts from England, or somewhere, to go through Belco?s system and report to the public as to who, or what was at fault,? he said.

Mr. Edness said it was important that this independent inquiry should not be paid for by Belco, but the Government, adding: ?It must be independent. We deserve the truth.?

However, Mr. Edness did express his gratitude to the Belco restoration crews who worked tirelessly to ensure that the Island had electrical power back as soon as possible.

?They did an outstanding job for which we are all grateful,? he said. ?It is the Belco hierarchy that I have a fight with and in whom I have lost trust. This was a serious matter as the country was virtually closed down, most businesses came to a grinding halt and most Bermudians were put to great inconvenience.?