Page 16 SectionA The Abaconian September 15, 2008 Ciewpoint... We need better service from BEC By Julian Lockhart The Bahamas Electrical Corporation (BEC) on Abaco really has left a sour taste in the mouths of Abaconians, and it does not seem to be getting any better. For some reason it seems as if BEC has to cut off the electricity on Abaco every day and sometimes twice a day. There is nothing more irritating than to consistently have your electricity go on and off throughout the day. I wish the corporation would let its val- ued customers know what is going on and why the electricity has to go off every day and on a lot of days more than once. You can’t come home from work and let me find a good movie to watch or a game because at any moment the power goes off and you are left sitting there halfway through what you were currently watching. Don’t be as unfortunate as I am and have an electric stove. You come home from work and start cooking. Then the power goes off. You are left with half cooked food that has to sit there for how- ever long the power is out. Then I have to start cooking again. The consistent power outages also does damage to appliances, computers and oth- er electrical items with the power surges. If BEC is load shedding, it should at least have the common courtesy to say so and prepare individuals for their electric- ity being cut off on a daily basis and the times it will go off. If you do not pay your electricity bill, the company is more than happy to come on by your home or business and place one of those locks on your meter until you pay your bill. It seems as if every month your elec- tricity bill goes up with fuel surcharges in continuous flux, the customer has to bare the brunt of these price hikes, yet does not have the certainty of a service beneficial of these consistent changes. If a company consistently raises its prices, it should also raise its level of service. The service of BEC is simple - just keep people’s power on more consistently. This daily power outage has to stop because it is only lead- ing to more dissent. But shouldn’t service be a two-way street and the consumer be able to know that the service they are paying for actu- Well Drilling: Water Wells, Drainage Wells, Septic Disposal Wells Trenching: Trenching for underground utility services Piling Holes: Piling Holes for home foundations and utility poles planted Excavator Rental: Specialized Excavator Foundation Drilling for home foundations in sand and Excavator Digging Call us today for a free consultation! Ph: (242) 367-4842 @ Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas ‘SPRAY Resor? & Marina Open Year Round Boat House Restaurant White Sound, Elbow Cay Enjoy a delicious dinner with us Sea Spray will pick up from Hope Town Bahamian Breakfast - Sat. & Sun. 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It is easier for new construction to just spend the extra money up front and put in solar panels and batteries and this way they will never have to deal with BEC and the consistent failure to give unabated ser- vice. If enough people decided to go solar they could even sell BEC back electric- ity at the end of the day. Hopefully, this could allow BEC to give better service to everyone else who is still on its grid. I guess this problem will continue for as long as the electrical corporation is owned by the Bahamas government. This is further proof why government corpora- tions need to be privatized and top notch service be demanded. 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