The residents of Kerema town in Gulf province have been in total darkness for two weeks now following issues with the only PNG Power diesel generation in town.
Initially, the issue was with the supply of fuel to the town after a portion of the road leading to Kerema from Central province was damaged due to the bad weather and affecting transportation of fuel.
But now the issue is with the only power generator in town going out of action, that’s after the matter of fuel supply was addressed.
PNG Power Limited (PPL) in a notice just this week confirmed this by saying that the capital of the Gulf province has been without power as a result of a total shutdown of electricity supply to homes, government institutions and business houses.
“This is due to an unexpected mechanical failure on our only operational generator at our power station that is supplying the province.”
The power company also said that its technical team is currently working on the fault and will notify as soon as the generator is operational; however, the residents in town claimed that there has not been a team yet on ground attending to this matter.
The main places affected by this blackout include the general hospital, the provincial police headquarters, schools and the provincial administration.
Meanwhile, those with standby generators have been requested to utilize them during this time.