(CNC3) – Twenty-two employees of the T&T Electricity Commission (T&TEC) are back on home soil after spending a month in Carriacou, Grenada helping to restore the power, and electricity infrastructure on the island after it was decimated by Hurricane Beryl.
Chabindranand Jagdeo, a supervisor who went on the trip, said it wasn’t the first time he had been deployed to a hurricane site, but the sight was still nothing he was prepared for.
He made a reconnaissance trip on July 11 before the rest of the team went on July 28.
“When we went there the place looked like a heat took over. Everything was brown, like it was a fire,” he recalled.
He said 90 per cent of the houses did not have a roof. Smaller houses were flattened. The only parts of homes which stood up were bathrooms, which were built with bricks.
Jadgeo knew how to get down to work as his team hit the ground. The team was deployed to the north, the restore the high voltage lines and the Grenadian authorities were deployed to the south to restore the low voltage lines.
“They didn’t have all the resources to do the LV (low voltage)side. They were doing it, but not as fast as we were, so we started to assist with some of the LV works and the people started to get back their supply,” Jagdeo said.
He said it was absolutely something he would do again.
“It’s something that you feel, when you see the suffering, you want to go more and more and more,” he said.
T&TEC presented the men with letters of commendation for their time on the island.
Minister of Public Utilities Marving Gonzales heaped praises on them, saying their work was invaluable to the people on the ground. He stressed on the importance and value of public service to country and to the region.
“They got payment and the incurred overtime, but when you look at the nature of the work that was done, I don’t believe you can pay these men for the work that they have done on that island, restoring electricity in record time,” Gonzales told Guardian Media in an interview after the ceremony.
“It’s public service and you don’t ever get compensated for public service. Sometimes you have to be driven by something that is deeper. You can’t always be motivated by money.”
