Niue Ki Mua Online

Special Issue 

Power Crisis challenges the small island state of Niue

Chief of Police, Ross Arden and Manager of Niue Power,
Speedo Hetutu updating the Premier outside the fire damaged power station.

Niue’s comfort zone was tested last week when the power station at Tuila was burnt down and plunged the island into total darkness. The prospect of going without electricity for an indefinite period was a stunning revelation of how vulnerable we really are, and how fragile our hold to a reality that can only be described as shaky and as unpredictable as the foundation of a society that we have built for ourselves. Fortunately there is life after a complete power shutdown but the trauma and the drama will stay remembered for at least a while longer while we ponder the future in the eventuality of a similar event ever happening again.

Like Fireworks out of control….

By the time the fire was discovered by a neighbor who heard ‘popping sounds’ coming from next door, it was too late to do anything but to ring the Police Department who alerted the Airport Fire Brigade that arrived just in time to extinguish the blaze from gutting the entire building and the Niue Power compound.

“It was like a Christmas tree,” related by one a witness who arrived at the scene soon after. “The blaze was so intense that the flames were shooting through the centre of the two storey high building like fireworks out of control and I could see the entire powerhouse compound aflame and could feel the heat from a hundred metres away.”

Like a tsunami warning that draws every spectator to the beach to watch the event in Technicolor, locals rushed to the scene and watched from every visible angle, [some even climbed trees for a better view] oblivious to the probable imminent explosion of diesel fuel containers, and the dust and the smoke from the fiercely burning timbers and asbestos roofing material. Fortunately there was to be a fuel storage depot planned to be built only meters away from the present powerhouse that did not eventuate because of the landowners’ opposition to its location as a potential fire hazard. Before the fire was under control the Niue Disaster Management Council hurriedly convened to consider its options.

     The consequences of a power shut down

Fortunately Niue’s essential public infrastructure such as the hospital, Telecommunications, Airport and the Broadcasting station each has an emergency generator, and Bulk Fuel has adequate supplies of petrol, diesel and aviation fuels. Fortunately as well every Niuean household have family members who remember, or are still practicing the traditional ways to prepare food, are able to make use of abundant biomass fuels with which to cook and to boil hot water. The other sources, like gas, kerosene and batteries were among the first items in the shops to be depleted although no one appeared to be seriously worried about the shortage.

But power failure for an uncertain period was a concern for everyone who depends on electricity. Water, for example, is pumped from the water lens underground and with over 600 households in 14 villages, there were only two generators capable or powerful enough to raw water from such depths. Making sure that every village water reservoir has adequate supply was the Disaster Management Council’s major concern. Niue Water Services, its staff and volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure that with prudent use adequate supplies are available every morning and evening.

Defrosted frozen foods could have become another major health risk if people were forced to eat them all before they were wasted. To solve this problem the Disaster Management Council appropriated refrigerated containers, two for the general public and six for private business operators to store frozen foods, were connected to Reef Group Fish Factory and to the airport generators. Announcements were broadcasted daily encouraging people to use and store food sensibly and to boil all drinking water.

Other health risks were also taken into consideration and the reasons why Niue must hasten its need for electrical services to be restored. Asthma sufferers, for example, who have personal nebulizers so that they do not need to visit the hospital, need power to operate them.        

The Niue Disaster Management Council makes priorities

From the beginning, in the realization that the nation has just lost one of its essential major public infrastructures, Council Chairperson, Minister Fisa Pihigia and the Council decided that whatever was needed to be done in order to restore electricity to the users the general public must be involved. Immediately the morning after the fire he appealed to the people on the national radio, the first of many addresses that he made on a regular basis until power was fully restored. The decision to keep the public informed and updated regularly was going to prove crucial during the crisis as the Council and the people struggled to maintain normality without undue panic. 

“We have an emergency situation that will affect our lives and livelihood at least for the next few days,” Acting Premier Pihigia announced early next morning. “Our powerhouse in Tuila was burnt down last night and we, that is all of us, are going to rely on one another’s help to get through this crisis. Every decision the Niue Disaster Council and myself make we intend to keep you updated. In the mean time we must be patient, tolerant and help each other as much as we can, save water and pray hard. We will do we can to restore power to your homes as soon as we possibly can.” 

Water conservation, followed by replacement of the burnt out generator, above everything else was to be the most important on the list of immediate priorities. To contain the risks associated with water shortage five portable generators [of which two with three phase capabilities] were organized to visit each of the 14 villages on a rotation basis to pump water from below ground and into the reservoirs to be rationed at pre-arranged times. Again this was widely publicized on the local radio and at the same time the public was encouraged to use water wisely and to keep an eye out for their less mobile members in the community who live on their own.

The other immediate concern [which is also a health risk] that merit the Council’s attention is the safe storage and use of frozen food; people have been counseled about the need to either use up food that are still frozen, or else take advantage of the Government’s hired cold storage containers for private citizens to deposit surplus frozen goods on a temporary basis. For the small businesses that do not have their own generators six cold storage containers located at the Niue Fish Processing factory at Amanau to store their frozen food items. These containers were provided free.

Without water the schools were closed for the duration of the power shortage. The students have been given the opportunity to learn some of the survival skills that their forbears had to use in the years of pre-electricity.

 Back to Basics

Without electricity cooking for most meant going back to the basics of using biomass fuels – firewood and anything else that burns. Umu [earth ovens] and open fires were resurrected as the main means of cooking food. “Do not attempt to cook or eat frozen foods that have been defrosted for more than 24 hours,” advised the Health Department. “Cook everything properly and boil all water from the water tanks at home before drinking it.”

Less than fifty years ago most Niuean households prepared and cooked foods in an earth oven or on open fires. Food to be cooked were wrapped in softened banana leaves [after heating them on the umu] and further protected with fresh leaves for the outer wrapping. Modernisation of traditional lifestyles offered more convenient ways of cooking and preparing food, such as gas or electric stoves and microwave appliances, or boiling up kettles or jugs for hot water, helped to avoid incidences of indoor smoke pollution and other associated diseases. In the absence of electricity bottled gas, batteries and candles for torchlight and kerosene to use in hurricane lamps were soon in high demand but soon ran out of supplies.

Throughout the week most households in the village communities were preparing, cooking and sharing their food with the les fortunate members of their community like their tupuna did more than fifty years ago. Children were taught the time tested skills using firewood to bake, boil and prepare food using naturally found materials that are in abundance around their homes and wood fires and smoke could be seen every morning or early in the evenings.

“While it was fun helping to get things ready in the evening, but I wouldn’t like to keep doing this for much longer,” said our ten year old next door neighbour. “I do miss not being able to turn on the water tap when I need a drink, or switching the lights when it gets dark.”   

New Zealand delivers Rescue Package

While the locals were busy adapting and adjusting their newly ‘acquired’ lifestyle, the Disaster Council was busy looking at the logistics of having a new generator delivered as soon as practical, ‘which for the time being regardless of how much it is going to cost,’ promised Minister Pihigia. “The water shortage is a complication that we can do without. The major objective therefore, a humanitarian one, was obvious: Niue Power must go back on line as soon as possible.

Hiring an air transporter to deliver a generator was at one stage seriously considered by the Council, but none was available at such short notice and the idea was discarded when New Zealand withdrew one of its Royal New Zealand Air Force [RNZAF] Hercules a prior commitment in East Timor to deliver a generator to energy strapped Niue.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, in consultation with her Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Winston Peters reassured Mr Kenn Makaola, a reporter for NIUFM in Auckland, that her Government is doing all it could to assist their families and relations back on the island.

“Be assured that the Government of New Zealand is going to do everything that is possible to restore Niue’s power crisis,” she told Makaola. “Not only Niueans are New Zealand citizens we also have an obligation to our constitutional partner to offer help when needed.”

The RNZAF duly arrived early last Friday afternoon to deliver the required equipment and the three electrical engineers to install the new generator. Almost every local resident flocked to the airport to watch and to welcome the arrival of a machine that is going to make a difference to their lives, in the manner to which they have become accustomed.  

“We should be switched back on by Saturday afternoon,” promised one of the electricity workers. Sure enough by evening Alofi village was the first to go on line, gradually followed by other villages until every house on Niue was able to use only the most essential appliances until the national grid has enough power for a full quota of electricity.  

By Monday afternoon on Queens Birthday all villages on the island were almost back to normal, ending Niue’s power crisis as dramatically the way it began.

Modern problems need modern solutions

Niue’s power crisis had tested the solidarity of its citizens and the constitution partnership with New Zealand found them as solid as the foundation of its island state. The successful outcomes are the results of people working together as a single, cohesive unit overcoming the inherent difficulties imposed by Niue’s isolated geographical location in the middle of the vast South Pacific Ocean. To triumph over a crisis that would surely cripple a larger industrialized nation if measured in economic, social, spiritual and emotional costs within the same time period, is a feat without equal: Governments, Departments, organisations, groups, village communities and individuals working together to bring about a successful conclusion are therefore to be congratulated. 

Surely we must have learnt something useful and worthwhile after Cyclone Heta,” remarked Acting Premier Fisa Pihigia, “otherwise what would be the point of letting history repeat itself?” Public awareness announcements by the Council Chairperson every day helped to keep everyone informed and have proved how important it was to keep a country going when a major infrastructure failed.

We have learnt valuable social lessons

  

Having access to electricity is both a blessing and a curse; on one hand it affirms our place in the modern world with convenience and entertainment provided already packaged, yet on the other social interaction among family members became a casualty in the homes. “It is sad that it takes a national disaster of some kind to bring people closer together,” commented one my friends after last week’s power shut down. “It is amazing that my family are now actually talking to each other and sharing things that were normally ignored when we sit in front of the television or videos almost every night. We even have time to share prayers and sing together in the evenings, which I found great. I think that there is a lesson here somewhere that we need to remember.” Spiritual and emotional closeness are what we treasured the most yet somehow we lose ourselves in the paraphernalia that comes with easy lifestyles as a consequence of the modernization process.

The village communities have also reverted to the old age practice of momoi, sharing food with those who have less and paying closer attention to, and taking care of, home alone elderly residents.

Thankfully Niue is almost back to normal thanks to everyone who had done his or her part in restoring the island’s power. Faults, like moisture in the supply lines, are still being discovered but compared to what it has been a major disaster has been averted without loss to property or human lives.  

Written by the Public Relations Officer.

Editor: Ms Josie Tamate

Public Relations Office

Premier’s Department

Falefono

Alofi, NIUE

June 2006

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