Though fuel surcharge has been implemented in St Vincent and the Grenadines for the past 47 years, it remains one of the most misunderstood issues in relation to electricity generation and billing. This is the view of Thornley Myers, the Chief Executive Officer of St Vincent Electricity Services (VINLEC), who took the opportunity in a recent interview with SEARCHLIGHT to explain the controversial topic. He explained that money collected through …
There may be employment waiting at VINLEC for three electrical engineers who have the attitude, aptitude and schooling for the job. The electricity company commemorated the 90th anniversary of electrification in St Vincent and the Grenadines on May 25. That date marked the first time that lights were switched on in Kingstown in 1931 when power was only provided to 31 customers at night time in the initial phase. Thornley …
Opening of the Richmond hydro-electric plant in 1962 Social Share
When Vincentians flip an electrical switch in their houses today, it is taken for granted that light will automatically fill the room they are in.
Switchboard at the South Rivers power station
But in 1931, and for a long time after, families like those that 99-year-old Victoria Moses grew up in had no electrical switches to flip; in many cases, nature provided their light.
“Well in those days, there was no electricity. It was kerosene oil that people were using to get light at night. Some people would buy a lamp and up to now, I have a lamp from my parents in those days. You put the kerosene oil in the lamp and you light it with the matches and you get the light at night,” Moses told SEARCHLIGHT this week, just days after the St Electricity Services Limited (VINLEC) commemorated the 90th anniversary of electrification in the country.
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