Broadcasting Corporation of Niue generator (2024). Photo: Supplied/ Esther Pavihi
Power concerns on Niue remain in the wake of a lightning storm a just over a week ago which took out much of the island's generating capacity.
Schools have been shut down, public workers sent home, and there are fears for the welfare of the elderly after the lightning storm on 26 January local time damaged Niue's national power grid.
Parts of the island have had power restored as of Saturday morning, with Radio 91FM able to broadcast in Alofi South, but the rest of the island is not able to receive radio.
Television services also remain down.
On Friday, the Broadcasting Corporation of Niue (BCN) posted on its Facebook page: "Due to the ongoing power outage, broadcasting services Radio and TV are temporarily off air. Regrettably without a backup generator the national Broadcaster has been off air since 5pm yesterday."
It added: "We apologise for the inconvenience and the stress of not having this essential service during the cyclone season. Unfortunately the situation is beyond our control."
But power was restored to BCN offices on Saturday as it is near the airport, which is preparing for the arrival of the weekly flight from New Zealand.
An engineer has been sent from New Zealand to undertake further repairs to the network.
"The damage is a lot more than they had initially thought," Niue Broadcasting Corporation head Esther Pavihi said.
She said the damage is extensive "to the point now that they cannot continue with rationing", according to aa source.
The generators are reportedly not able to cope with demand.
"So the northern side of the island has been completely shut off, the southern side had power rationing until it was switched off yesterday (Thursday)," Pavihi said.
Niue has been plagued by power outages for many years, with the situation now "dire".
The last major outage was in July last year.
National broadcaster goes dark
The lights were out at the national broadcaster on Friday with no power and no back up generator and journalists were sent home.
Pavihi spoke with RNZ Pacific as her phone battery drained to get the news out.
She said being cyclone season, this is "a very concerning situation".
"This is a huge concern for us at the national broadcaster," Pavihi said.
"We're in the middle of the cyclone season now the weather is changing we and we have no way of informing the public if there is a tropical depression or even a cyclone close to the island."
Minister of Infrastructure has been approached for comment but Pavihi was told he was not available.
Premier Dalton Tagelagi spoke earlier last week and was apologetic to the public.
"He apologised, that as we start the year that we will be celebrating 50 years of self government, that we continue to have power fluctuations.
He appealed to the public to help conserve power," Pavihi said.
When asked why it has taken so long to get funding for a generator for the national broadcaster, Pavihi said she will be probing the Finance Minister about why it has taken so long to get funding for a generator for the national broadcaster.
She said on Friday she could not reach him because of the power outage.
The New Zealand government has allocated NZ$5 million in funding for an energy project that was expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
