Power outages worsened this week in Táchira. All sectors of the region have been affected, especially kidney patients; and while the government insists that it is due to a weather problem, the former president of Desurca points out the lack of maintenance and investment in the reservoir
“You can’t move forward like this. Táchira is going backwards, mainly due to electricity failures and other basic services, such as drinking water, gas, internet, landline and cell phones », he commented to The nation a resident of San Cristóbal – who preferred to keep his name anonymous – who had his hopes pinned on the change of leadership in the Governor’s Office.
The Andean state has been one of the hardest hit by the Bolivarian revolution and has suffered constant and prolonged power cuts for a month, a situation that has worsened this week. According to information provided by the governor of the entity, Freddy Bernal (PSUV), this time the service failures are due to the low water level of the Uribante-Caparo reservoir, one of the main energy providers in the region.
* Read: Freddy Bernal whipped for lack of policies to address the electricity crisis in Táchira
“On Sunday, April 10, the instability of the electrical flow and the prolonged cuts made users desperate. On Monday, April 11, the situation did not improve: there were countless blackouts in some sectors, accompanied by low and high light intensity. On Tuesday, April 12, the panorama was similar, “reviewed the regional media.
Táchira kidney patients at risk
All sectors of the region have been affected, especially kidney patients in San Cristóbal: some 150 people who require dialysis are at risk, due to recurrent power failures.
“If these blackouts continue, we are going to have deceased patients in bulk, because they do not receive dialysis well, as it is, they become unbalanced,” said Luz Martínez, president of the Táchira Kidney Patients Foundation (Fundarenal Táchira).
He explained that although some of the dialysis centers have power plants, these “they do not support so many hours in operation”. He also pointed out that voltage irregularities cause the machines (Artificial Kidney Machines, MRA) to not work well and have to be restarted.
«Táchira can run out of light»
Arnoldo Uribe, former president of the company Desarrollo Uribante-Caparo (Desurca) points out that the low level of water in the reservoir is due to “lack of maintenance and attention to problems that could be solved in time”; not to climatological factors, as indicated by the Governor.
“This has been a summer with a lot of rain. In stronger summers, that reservoir has been operating well. On this occasion, it rains almost every day, so the reservoir has had to maintain minimum operating levels, for example, to produce 100 megawatts or 150″; he said in an interview with The nation.
On the other hand, Uribe foresees the possibility of a general blackout in Táchira.
Fourth blackout of the day pic.twitter.com/6FQo6yGh4V
– Lorena Evelyn Arráiz (@lorearraiz) April 12, 2022
«At the moment when the power goes out, it is not because it is due to formal technical control of a plan to regulate it, but because not all the flow arrives at that moment. And since there is a way to control distribution, priority is given to areas where there are care centers, hospitals, for example. This is how it is regulated the little electricity that arrives, which does not exceed 40 megabytes. If there is no generation, there is also no distribution. Then, even emergency centers can end up without electricity, in a total blackout, “he warned.
Arnoldo Uribe, former president of the company Desarrollo Uribante-Caparo (Desurca), 2005-2008 | Photo: The nation
“Large Magnitude” Deforestation
On April 9, the deputy of the Legislative Council of the State of Táchira, Heriberto Labradormade a tour of the Uribante municipality, to learn first-hand about the situation in the Uribante-Caparo hydroelectric complex.
“All the residents with whom we have spoken have told us that the real cause of this situation is not the drought, it is not the summer: it is the lack of maintenance, the lack of follow-up and the proper use of the water tributary,” said the legislator.
Heriberto Labrador He also denounced that there is a large-scale deforestation in the surrounding areas –more accentuated in the margins near the headwaters of the rivers, which are the natural tributaries of the dam–, as a result of the need of the inhabitants to use firewood to cook for the lack of domestic gas.
#16March As Deputy of the Legislative Council of the State of Táchira, I was making a tour of the high mountain municipalities and I was able to observe the state of the La Honda dam, of the Uribante-Caparo hydroelectric complex. pic.twitter.com/JahMBcxlPb
– Heriberto Junior Labrador (@heribertoLabrad) April 11, 2022
They wait for the solution to fall from the sky
In recent statements to the press, Bernal insisted that the electrical problem in the entity «it is due to the lack of rain in the southern part of the state» and that at least one month of rain is required to fill the Uribante-Caparo dam.
“I do not point out who can be bothered, because I go through that inconvenience, but, unfortunately, it is beyond our capacity,” who served as “protector” of Táchira before being elected governor in November 2021 told the press. .
The call of the tachirenses
While the governor waits for the solution to fall from the sky –or from some investment–, the tachirenses ask him to find someone who can deal with the problem.
“Governor, we have to call someone who can fix the problem. We cannot continue like this, in this hardship that, beyond keeping us in the dark, is leading us to bankruptcy,” said a worker at a butcher shop in Santa Teresa, who said that if the failure is caused by the drought and it is necessary to wait for the rains, so how do they keep the electrical system 100% operational in countries where it practically never rains?
Also read: Experts warn that the Guri hydroelectric plant works at “half a machine”
Post Views:
42
