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Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬Antigua St John's - General Manager of the Antigua Public Utilities Authorities (APUA) Esworth Martin has said public concerns that four Wadadli Power Plant engines might be nonfunctional are excessive.

Martin told Caribarena.com that the engines were not down, and as far as he was aware, they had been taken out for “cleaning and treatment”.

Caribarena.com contacted Martin’s office for clarification, and to find out whether when the engines were taken out of commission, and when they would be back in operation.

The general manager did not provide an answer to the latter question.

“I am not aware that they are down,” Martin said. “I know some engines came out for cleaning and treatment, but not that they were down.”
He said he would, however, look into the matter and provide further clarity.

Thus far, Caribarena has received no clarification on the matter from Martin.

Former APUA Minister Robin Yearwood had said the engines were indeed out of commission due to mechanical difficulties.



He said, “They are having turbo charger problems. Up to last night, they were offline.”

Yearwood said he has been reliably informed about the status of the engines, and was confident about his sources.

“They were taken offline last week, and there are only two of them running,” the ALP MP said.

Caribarena told Yearwood about the APUA general manager’s stance on the matter, and said according to him, Martin is not entirely wrong, since “cleaning and treatment” could essentially mean the same as servicing and maintenance.

“Those guys can’t speak openly about the engines. The plant is in the public eye. So they have to be crafty about it,” Yearwood said.

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30 Comments In This Article   

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Something gone wrong

#30 Concern citizen » 2012-05-26 22:13

The Power Plant is old ,every day APUA a lock off current ,light bills are so high ,come on people wake up how much more suffering from the upp we have to endure.
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Concern citizen

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#29 Enquiring Minds » 2012-05-04 10:08

Can someone advise why the former minister is still on the email list at APUA? ie when emails are sent to staff at large he also gets a copy?
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Enquiring Minds

Question

#28 Haha » 2012-05-03 23:12

How many of us done pay our light bill??
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Haha

@ fnpsr

#27 Morris » 2012-05-03 21:50

Thanks for that revelation, because they sure had me confused. LOL. I sure neeed that laugh...it'sgoo d for the soul.
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Morris

it depends on the meaning of "new"

#26 fnpsr » 2012-05-03 21:30

Folks, I have figured out the situation with the generators. The PM may be correct! Shoul may be correct! The engineers may be correct! APUA may be correct! The Chinese may be correct! The generators are New. I have irrefutable facts! Here we go!! While the generators may have been old, used, certified pre-owned, or refurbished in China, they are definitely, unequivocally, without a doubt, NEW to Antigua. And there you have it folks, new generators! It depends on the meaning of "NEW"!

"Let's fix the little things before we attempt to fix the big things."
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fnpsr

@Certified Engineer

#25 Wadadli Blogger » 2012-05-03 19:41

@Certified Engineer ... the general manager did not say they were doing "preventive maintenance" or even regular maintenance ... because that fact can be easily checked with documents. He said they had been taken out for “cleaning and treatment”. Now did all 6 get "cleaning and treatment"? And it's interesting to see people try and defend this power plant. They themselves will start to feel the wrath of the foolish decision of buying a crappy much needed commodity as a power plant ... It's like they forget we need RELIABLE power generation in this country!!!
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Wadadli Blogger

New engine need clean already

#24 Wadadli Blogger » 2012-05-03 19:30

Look ya'll just give back the Chinese and dem their old engines ... my power was just off for 30 minutes and I missed the first 10 minutes of Nicks vs Heat!!!

Are you telling me that a new engine needs cleaning and treating after just 8 months?

I am tired of this now ... TIRED ... just tell them liars to get lost and leave us alone ... ya'll go to China and spend ya'll thiefing money ... just leave us alone now ... the whole cabinet needs to RESIGN for the good of the country now since they are unanimous behind Baldwin and old engines and none of them defending Antigua & Barbuda getting new and state of the art engines!!! We don't deserve a state of the art power plant? We only deserve old mash up engines that need repair every day. What happens when we have to start paying for the repairs when the warranty is up?
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Wadadli Blogger

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#23 ANTIGUAN WOMAN » 2012-05-03 18:45

Why are you people sinning your souls to hell for Baldwin Spencer&David Shoul. We all know there is something called maintenance,tha t still dont answer our concerns,we want to know if the engines are new,re-con or just a plain piece of Chinese Crap.We also want to know why at a crucial time like this we would be subjected to these fuel guzzlers,when we were told that we would see relieve from the high rates after their installation. We also need to know when will that time be,because frankly we are at our wits with your rates,and cant take much more. Since you have decided to act as the PRO ,please answer my questions, because as the qualified engineer(assumi ng an employee) it would be in your interest to see that the public is satisfied,or else sooner than you may think,you may be out of a job,We,re fed up and need relief and answers not Technical terms and Lying tongues.I believe you are fully aware that something is not quite right surrounding these engines,so why come to us and tell us about Maintenance,is that supposed to satisfy?
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ANTIGUAN WOMAN

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#22 Certified Engineer » 2012-05-03 14:38

There is something called Preventive maintenance and for Diesel Engines this consists of the following • General inspection• Lubrication • Cooling system service; Fuel system service• Servicing starting batteries
• Regular engine exercise. Now The schedule of maintenance and service are based on the usage and the severity of the environment. For example, if the generator is used frequently or subjected to extreme operating
conditions, or salt air/water environment like at Crabbs then servicing has to be done fore frequently. For the knowledge of your readers some servicing are done weekly, monthly , 3 months or 6 months and some maybe once per year. For our benefit I would hope that this is not the first time that APUA is servicing these generators.
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Certified Engineer

SABOTAGE AND PAYOFFS!

#21 THE GODFATHER » 2012-05-03 14:34

There is apparenty sabotage from within, information is seeping through the cracks to Member of Parliament Robin Yearwood and those with vested interest seems to know much more than the public.Many within APUA are still not serving the public interest, they dance to the piper. What's really at stake?

Not only money, monoply, and greed, but political propaganda to undermine the government, and control Antigua & Barbuda destiny.
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THE GODFATHER

Skyewill

#20 tenman » 2012-05-03 13:52

Skyewill, if you listen to the wine and blood press conference, its clear that the GM's purpose is to protect the board and politicians. I doubt he feels any loyalty to the claimed share holders of that company.

..
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tenman

“cleaning and treatment”?

#19 PLM » 2012-05-03 13:30

APUA and the entire civil service need “cleaning and treatment”. Too many smaddy want big job and big title with no accountability.
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PLM

correction

#18 Dig It » 2012-05-03 12:30

Sorry. Meant to say"...start (not stop) tell us..."
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Dig It

For all the pompous politicians.

#17 P.T Barnum » 2012-05-03 12:12

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. :P
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P.T Barnum

@Skywell

#16 ANTIGUAN WOMAN » 2012-05-03 10:44

To answer your question CLARVIS JOSEPH.
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ANTIGUAN WOMAN

Come clean EM

#15 Dig It » 2012-05-03 10:43

Just one big joke! EM needs to tell the public why the engines were taken out for "cleaning and treatment?" Are they working or not? If they are "new" why they need such "services" so soon? EM needs to understand the public's frustration and stop tell us if he knows if we indeed "negotiate" for "used" power plant! The longer the "unanswered" questions linger around the WPP, the "smoke" it attracts! The public and the Lone Wolf needs to know the "truth" and nothing but the "truth" surrounding the 52 million dollar spent on the New (still yet to determine) WPP!
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Dig It

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#14 hm » 2012-05-03 09:39

Shouldnt these direct questions be posed to the Electricity Mananger?? In all fairness I wouldnt expect Martin to know intricate details regarding service of generators etc. Not when there are Engineers and Managers to over see this doesnt need to Micro manage.
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hm

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#13 Morris » 2012-05-03 09:37

ANU needs to be thoroughly cleansed of all these aloof officials. These officials appear to be nothing more than overpaid seat warmers.
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Morris

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#12 Expert » 2012-05-03 09:22

Since when the whole of Antigua is Mechanical Engineers and know how and when generators need servicing or maintenance??? Do we have evidence to support that the engines have broken down?? do we now how many hours a generator is run before maintenance should be done?? We are all experts..
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Expert

He said he would, however, look into the matter and provide further clarity.

#11 Skyewill » 2012-05-03 08:38

Mr. Martin, you are the manager. there is nothing about anything in APUA you should not know about let alone a Plant with so many issues. Mr. Martin you should be running that plant personally. Mr. Martin, you should be getting daily briefing and updates and should be visiting the plant at least 5 days a week, what else could you have to do? Do you climb poles and hook up electricity on buildings, NO. Do you install water meters, NO. Fellow blogers, this was the first time since the story broke I got mad. This can not be the responses of the General Manager, any GM. The questions come, is he really the GM. Who is flying this space ship?
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Skyewill

APUA

#10 SAM » 2012-05-03 08:28

xxul, please let the dead rest in peace and stop them from rolling over their graves, stop raping the people of this little Antigu & Barbuda, for heanven sake, telling the truth will improve your health, your integrity for which you have none of the above, ask GOD to guide you and to be more thruthful, your are a vindictive SOB, your lies have caught up with you, give it up you are washed up, this the 7th word YOU ARE FINISHED!!!!!
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SAM

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#9 Antigua People » 2012-05-03 08:17

@ Sam........Seem s like you have a personal axe to grind. If as u said Martin got the job on a bookkeeping Degree then blame the people who hired him. I believe he came through the ranks of APUA and has been there over 20 years. We will never prosper, we fight agains each other like dogs and cats while the Syrians, Chineese, Itallians and British come into our country and rape all our resources. Our beachfront land, business opportunities, lobster gone to foreigners. While we argue everyday about politics. Look at all the business places in the English Harbor area, the shooting range open at Potworks Dam, all opened by foreigners making it big on our tourism.
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Antigua People

???

#8 Mr Sabruski » 2012-05-03 07:59

Mr Martin is the GM and doesn't really know why engines ( plural) are out?
Can't say when they are scheduled to come back on line?
Why do they need cleaning and treatment?
What does cleaning and treatment entail?
Does Mr Martin know what is going on at the plant? It seems not.
We need to get an independent body of engineers who actually know something about power generation to do an inspection and evaluate the powerplant. Enough of the lip service from APUA management.
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Mr Sabruski

You!

#7 Poopie » 2012-05-03 07:46

Mr Martin you have a responsibility to release all the documents to the public or face the wrath of the Public!
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Poopie

MARTIN-APU RESPONSE

#6 SAM » 2012-05-03 07:45

WHAT A JOKE FORM BOTHE SIDES OF THE FENCE, THEY NEED TO COME CELAN WITH THE PEOPLE OF A&B. WAS THERE EVER A START UP OF THE SAID ENGINES? IF THAT WAS DONE, WHY DO THEY NEED CLEANING SO SOON? WHERE ARE THE ENGINEERS IN ALL OF THIS? DO THEY HAVE A MAINTENANCE CONTRACT WITH THE VENDOR OR THE MANUFACTURER? ARE THEY STILL UNDER WARRANTY?
MARTIN IS A WASTE IN THE FIRST DEGREE, HE NEEDS TO RESIGN ASAP! HAS RUN APUA INTO THE GROUND, FOR SOMEONE WHO DOES ONLY DID BOOK KEEPING IN THE USA. HE NEEDS TO STEP ASIDE AND LET THE YOUNG AND UP COMING PEOPLE WITH A COLLEGE DEGREE USE THEIR BRAIN AND MOTIVATE THEM BY RESIGN ASAP! YOU HAVE DONE SO MANY WRONG TO PEOPLE, HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT? RESIGN!! RESIGN!
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SAM

Jail!

#5 Slapping Hand » 2012-05-03 07:17

Dear Mr. Martin,

Please note that no Ministers went to jail in the Medical Benefits Scandal! It was the Accountant who did jail time!

You won't be able to pull a "Shaggy" (it wasn't me)!

Please be guided accordingly!
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Slapping Hand

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#4 Hmmmmm » 2012-05-03 06:15

It hurts me when Yearwood is trying to spin the facts through this media about APUA and generators when soo much wrong took place under his tenure as Minister there. Seems to me that he is still trying to get his friend Hadeed to provide all the power for Antigua. Maybe a xxed Piper sinxing for xxx xxxxx
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Hmmmmm

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#3 Just Sayin » 2012-05-03 05:38

When you buy old used generators from the Chinese by the back door what do you expect?

Nothing about the purchase of these generators has been transparent, in fact every effort has been made to conceal the truth...Well the truth always finds a way out so it would be better if you told us the truth now Mr Spencer rather than waiting for it to come out bit by bit!
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Just Sayin

APUA! Cleaning and Treatment!

#2 John French II » 2012-05-03 03:24

Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock. A New Plant under Warranty in its First Year should be operating at Peak Efficeincy. It should be possible to run all six engines and generators.
That Mr. Esworth Martin APUA's General Manager has stated thatQuote:
“I know some engines came out for cleaning and treatment, but not that they were down.”
is definitely an admission that either the operations of the plant are not at the optimum operational efficiency or that the Maintenance/or Preventive Maintenance Plan is ad hoc.
Please bear in mind that APUA has entered into a Separate Contract with BCEG for the Operations and Maintenance for two years.
New Engines and Genrators do not require cleaning/treatm ent legally in most jurisdictions within two years. After the warranty period optimal operation and maintenance would expect atleast four engines & generators to be running at anytime, one engine & generator on standby for emergencies and one engine & generator off line for cleaning and Preventive Maintenance. That would be the minimum expected operating sequence for a new plant.
Wheel & Come Again! U no Try Dat!
Heaven Help The APUA Admin & Engineers.
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John French II

RE: Martin Reacts to Power Plant Concerns‬

#1 STEVE » 2012-05-03 03:10

We know what is going on Esworth. We know that you have to be "careful" with your words :-* but God is good and he will bring the whole picture of "careful" words crashing down soon.
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STEVE

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