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BEL says illegal electricity connections caused hazards in Belize City

By on October 19, 2015
Illegal electricity connections

Illegal electricity connections

Monday, October 19, 2015. Belize City, Belize. Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) today announced that it has requested the support of the National Emergency Management Organization(NEMO) in cautioning the public of the life-threatening hazards caused by illegal and improper electrical connections.

BEL, in a press release, said that there were separate instances over the weekend in Belize City, where lives were put at risk due to this illegal practice.

These incidents included extensive damages and an “avoidable power outage due to these unsafe electrical connections.”

Illegal electricity connections

Illegal electricity connections

BEL says that on Saturday, “an extension wire connected directly from an electrical meter became immersed in water on the ground, causing a short circuit which led to a fire that damaged the property and threatened the lives of those in the immediate area.”

Then on Sunday, BEL says “lives were endangered when illegal electrical connections in the Antelope Street Extension Area caused exposed live wires to be laying in flood water.”

The official release notes that “this presented risk of electric shock to any person making contact with the water and BEL was forced to disconnect power supply to the area to mitigate the hazard.  NEMO personnel were unable to immediately access the area to render assistance to flood victims and this outage persisted for up to approximately 11 hours until the illegal connections could be safely removed.”

Illegal electricity connections

Illegal electricity connections

The BEL press release says that “illegal and improper electrical connections exist in several communities countrywide,” and that for the last couple of years it has been working with the police to encourage residents of these communities to stop the risky and unsafe practice of illegally connecting to power lines.

BEL personnel have also been going into the various communities to talk about safety and to discourage people from doing these illegal connections.

According to BEL, residents can be safely connected to its electricity system through the Connecting Homes, Improving Lives Program.

Under that Program, BEL says that low-income residents may qualify for the installation of a free service entrance, which will allow their homes to be properly connected for power supply.

BEL also has a Golden Citizen Program where it pays the monthly bill for senior citizens who are struggling to make their monthly payments.

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