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Surrey, BC- Residents of Royal Heights situated in Surrey have seen over four major outages this year, one spanning nearly two days.
The last one, on October 16, had residents complaining that BC Hydro and Surrey City are neglecting the area. One of the residents talked about how the area lacked proper sidewalks, and had frequent vandalism and other infrastructural issues.
People in the territory of Royal Heights say that a little breeze or a touch of thunder leads to power outages at times. “It’s not windy at all, and boom, power goes off”, said one of the residents about the last power cut. Most of these outages cut off usually hundreds of people and restore only ones for hours or days altogether, which leads to family discomfort and questions about how stable the current grid is.
Calls for Responsibility
Residents are now contemplating ideas such as a petition to hold accountable BC Hydro and the government officials. “We need explanations from Hydro,” added some of them in a pattern common to many, noting that the electrical utility has never been a pity able to address its complaints
Many residents believe that because of power rationing, their locality is among the first to be cut off.
Residents are asking BC Hydro to compensate them for the time of the power outages.
Wider Infrastructure Concerns
Power is not the only source of dissatisfaction among the Royal Heights residents. Other infrastructure issues, such as the poor state of roads along River Road, have also sparked a lot of debate. The issue of inadequate drainage and maintenance was further demonstrated in an incident reported in January where a car skidded off the road into a tree as a result of the driver losing control of the veh
icle due to Hydroplaning. “This stretch of River Road was indeed bad for so many years and this calamity was waiting to happen,” said one resident of the area.
Residents of the community have further been heard complaining about the condition to the city representatives, and the same has been done for the areas along River Road and Millar Road where many of the potholes have accumulated so much water making the roads impassable.
Residents claim that assurances were given to them by the city officials suggesting that such areas would be worked on, but so much has not been fixed.
Organizing a Community for A Better Future
The residents of Royal Heights are looking to create petitions, contact local newspapers, and arrange talks with leaders. They are looking to write a petition about the chronic underinvestment in infrastructure. As cities like Surrey continue their growth, it is essential that all residents can access these city services and that there are adequate safe roads for all to use in the future.
Last Updated on by Icy Canada Team