The St. Vincent Electricity Services received 10,000 barrels (350,000) of fuel on Thursday, January 31. The fuel is currently stored at the Lowmans Bay Power Plant and will be used for the generation of electricity in St. Vincent.

This is the second shipment that the company has received from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The first shipment arrived here on November 15, 2006 and amounted to 12,000 barrels (420,000 gallons) and is already being utilized at the Lowmans Bay Power Plant that commenced operations last November.{{more}}

The shipment came under the PetroCaribe agreement between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The agreement was launched in June 2005 and allows the country to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment.

Meanwhile, the management of Vinlec is calling on individuals to desist from lighting bushfires, as they are likely to cause damage to various electricity poles thereby causing disturbance to electricity services throughout the country.

This call came following an incident that occurred in Mc Kies Hill last week.

According to the Operations Engineer, Ricky Wright, the bushfire damaged an electricity pole in the area causing the staff at VINLEC to take out the power in order to replace the damaged pole on Saturday.

The disruption affected areas in Mc Kies Hill, Paul Over, Murray’s Road, Murray’s Village, Kingstown Park and Level Garden from ten Saturday morning to 4:30 p.m. while some areas did not receive power until 9:40p.m.

They are also calling on persons to desist from throwing matches, cigarette butts or other flammable objects in bushes, especially during the dry season.