The Government has rejected claims by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed that residents of Swan are living without access to electricity and water, describing the allegations as “false” and misleading.
The Government’s response comes after Mohamed visited the Swan community and highlighted what he described as the difficult conditions faced by residents, including households without electricity and water.
During his visit, Mohamed called for Swan to be included in the Government’s model village initiative, arguing that residents should be provided with basic amenities.
However, in a statement issued yesterday, the Government disputed the Opposition Leader’s characterization of the situation, saying Swan, located along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, has access to both the national electricity grid and a formal water supply system.
The Government said residents are able to access formal electricity services and said that solar panels were provided to households that were not yet ready to transition to the national grid.
It further argued that reports of residents being disconnected from electricity contradict the claim that the community has no access to electricity.
The statement pointed to comments from residents who spoke about households being “disconnected” and the need for assistance with “restoring electricity services”.
The Government questioned how residents could be disconnected from an electricity service if the community had never had access to electricity in the first place.
On water, the Government similarly maintained that Swan has access to a formal water supply system.
It acknowledged, however, that individual households may encounter problems with connections, payments or other circumstances that could affect their access to water at a particular time.
The Government said such individual difficulties should not be represented as meaning that the entire community has no access to water.
The statement accused Mohamed of manipulating and repackaging information from the community visit to create what it described as a false impression that basic infrastructure had not been extended to Swan.
The Government also criticised sections of the media for what it described as repeating political claims without sufficient verification.
This comes after residents told Mohamed during his visit that they were struggling with electricity-related problems.
One elderly resident, who said she has lived in Swan for more than two decades, described being left without electricity.
She said residents were forced to use the lights on their phones and were concerned about how they would charge their devices without electricity.
The resident also complained about elderly people and children being left without electricity and water, describing these as basic services that should be available to residents.
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