TEAM APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE ISLANDWIDE BLACKOUT IN TRINIDAD

By a Staff Reporter: Acting Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago Colm Imbert gave details of the three-man specialist team appointed by government to carry out an independent investigation into Wednesday's blackout.

In Parliament on Friday, Minister Imbert said announced that the team comprises retired Professor of Electrical Engineering, Chandrabhan Sharma, PhD, former chairman of T&TEC Keith Sirju, and Special Branch acting Superintendent Allister Guevarro. The team is expected to report back to government in one month’s time.

Minister Imbert referred to a similar blackout in 2013 under the UNC administration which drew international attention. But, he said, the Government considers this week’s outage to be a very serious matter which requires immediate independent and expert investigation.

An islandwide blackout on Wednesday in Trinidad left over 1million people with no electricity. By 1 am, more than 12 hours after electricity went; many reported that it had finally been restored. Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales said that there are no signs of sabotage.