The Guyana Police Force has launched a probe into an attempt to firebomb a power substation for the Guyana Power and Light Company at Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara. The incident reportedly took place on Tuesday night.

In a statement, GPL said it was an attempt at the deliberate sabotage of its Good Hope Distribution Substation. The company has since beefed up security at all of its locations. In the release of CCTV footage from the location, two men could be seen running away from the substation after one of them tossed a “channa bomb” into the yard.

The power company said it does not view the matter solely as vandalism, but sees it as a malicious attack that could have caused catastrophic damage. It noted that a firebomb in a live high-voltage yard could ignite transformer oil, cables and switch gear, causing fires and explosions that would endanger staff and nearby residents and destroy the substation.

“Had this attack succeeded, it would have resulted in a total shutdown of the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) affecting in excess of 220,000 customers and the Good Hope Substation would have suffered extensive physical damage to its equipment, taking not less than 12 months to reconstruct and billions of dollars in expenditures,” GPL noted.

GPL said there were no line or feeder trips and supply was not interrupted, but stated that its engineers inspected the site overnight and confirmed no major equipment was damaged.

GPL said it has handed its CCTV footage to investigators and increased security and patrols at all substations and power plant across the grid.

“Persons who damage, attempt to damage, or assist others in damaging GPL facilities will face prosecution under the laws of Guyana and GPL will pursue every legal avenue, including civil recovery of all losses. Those who carried out this act, and anyone who planned, funded, aided or abetted it, must be arrested and prosecuted,”GPL noted.

The company  has formally asked the Guyana Police Force to investigate the matter under the anti-terrorism  Act, together with the arson, malicious damage and conspiracy provisions of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:01.

Related posts:

Police probe theft of copper cables used to power LED lights on BJ Demerara River Bridge Three foreign nationals wanted over “terrorist” attack on East Ruimveldt Police outpost and GPL substation Norton questions Police Force’s decision to issue wanted bulletins for protesters for alleged “terrorism” GPL facing power generation deficit; Blackouts likely