TelEm Group technicians say they are not deterred by the copper thieves who are hampering their restoration work around the island. They say they will be in the Betty’s estate area this weekend restoring and repairing downed customer lines.
The technicians will “blitz” the area with equipment and personnel Saturday to get as many customers as possible reconnected – so long as the weather holds up.
“Customers in Betty’s Estate have been most patient in their wait to be reconnected to our services since the damage caused by Hurricane Gonzalo,” said TelEm Group Outside Plant Manager, Marco London.
He said that patience will pay off when all cables in the area are put underground instead of returning them to more vulnerable overhead poles.
“Our technicians will be disconnecting, reconnecting and testing lines in Betty’s Estate all day, so we are once again asking customers to cooperate and rest assured that we are doing all we can to get them connected as quickly as possible,” said Mr. London.
He said the company’s restoration efforts have taken a knock in recent days because of unexpected theft of copper cables required to connect customers.
Teeming rain in the past few days has made it impossible for technicians to work in the field.
He said in an effort to speed up the restoration work, a team of technicians from overseas will be arriving on the island at the weekend and will go into the worst affected areas as early as Monday to help with the repairs and step up the reconnection effort.
Customers in Betty’s Estate are requested to be on standby at their homes Saturday in the event technicians need to have any service questions answered.