PHILIPSBURG:--- Residents throughout the Dutch side of the island were out of electricity shortly after 2pm on Thursday. Unconfirmed reports state that GEBE encountered a major problem at its power plant in Cape Bay.
The island wide blackout severely hindered the 21st Annual FCCA Conference and Tradeshow that is currently being held at the A.C. Wathey Cruise Facility. At the moment St. Maarten has over 1,100 delegates on the island attending the conference, many of the delegates were seen in Philipsburg wandering around since they were unable to continue their tradeshow and participate in the planned workshops. So far GEBE has not made any statement as to the cause of the power outage and when they will be able to restore electricity.
