VINLEC urges home owners to clear vegetation around their properties

With the hurricane season officially started and predictions for an above-normal season, the St Vincent Electricity Service Limited (VINLEC) is urging homeowners and businesses to monitor the vegetation around their properties so as to prevent line damage and subsequent service disruptions.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecast a range of 13 to 19 total named storms with six to ten forecast to become hurricanes.

Senior Transmission and Distribution Engineer at VINLEC, Stanley Harris, disclosed that the team has ramped up its vegetation clearing exercise now that a number of challenges have been addressed.

“We are seeking to enhance our response but things took time for those things to be coming into gear. Ideally it would have been great if this would have been in the first quarter so we would have gotten those, but we don’t have control over many aspects,” he explained.

“We are now in that place where the vehicles are here, we have the contractors and we have been procuring materials in preparation, given what happened last year.”

Harris revealed that the company lost two major vegetation contractors and had to enter into a procurement process to fill the vacancies. They have sourced three utility vehicles which are expected to expedite vegetation management.

He explained further that the procurement of materials within the last 24 to 28 months has been a logistical headache for the company.

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