Valuators for the T&T Electricity Commission (T&TEC) continued yesterday to assess damage done to four vehicles and household appliances when three electricity poles on George Street, La Romaine, crashed onto four parked vehicles. Residents say failure by T&TEC to repair a rotting pole in the area resulted in them having to pay thousands of dollars in compensation after the weak pole fell, bringing down two other poles.
The incident caused extensive damage to a Honda Civic, a Nissan B14, a panel van and a 12-seater maxi taxi. The wooden poles have since been replaced with steel poles and electricity has been restored. There are unconfirmed reports that the pole was earmarked to be replaced but workers who showed up on the site several weeks ago, complained about a lack of proper safety gear to do the job. They left and never returned until Monday night when the poles collapsed.
T&TEC’s area manager for the southern district, Harold Lee, who supervised the replacement of the poles said: “It is too early in the game to say what caused the poles to fall.” Resident Pete Phillip, whose Honda Civic was badly damaged, said he was very frightened around midnight when he heard a loud explosion and a bang before his home was plunged into darkness.
He said he left his wife and children inside the house and looked outside to see the pole, which was still attached to sparking wires, on his car. “I was scared. The place was in darkness and there was plenty sparks,” he added. He said a preliminary estimate of the damage to his vehicle showed “the whole trunk, everything mash up, the shocks bust, the windscreen bust but I don’t have a good estimate of the damage yet.”
Phillip said he was happy with the utility’s response. He said it promised to have the damage to his vehicle assessed and compensated accordingly. “The response time might be a problem because I use the car everyday and when I am not using it my wife uses it so I need to get back something very quickly,” he added.