NAN-HE-13
Transmission
By Stanley Nwanosike
Enugu, July 3, 2017 (NAN) The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has appealed to Nigerians to co-operate with it as it expands its power transmission lines across their communities.
The General Manager of TCN, Enugu Region, Mr Geoffrey Nwokoye, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday, said the transmission lines expansion was to improve electricity supply nationwide.
According to Nwokoye, parts of the country are experiencing poor electricity supply because of the disruption of the transmission lines expansion project.
Cue in audio (Nwokoye)
“All these transmission lines go through different communities and different lands that belong to different people.
“But there are certain areas we will get to and want to do an expansion project, but some people who are already enjoying power that transverse through other people’s land to their own, will not allow us to expand.
“Some of them will insist that they won’t even move from the location. So this thing had been hindering the expansion projects especially in the South-East here.
“Making issues of way-leave and compensation very difficult and complicated.
“Take for instance, the transmission line from New Haven sub-station to Nsukka sub-station; they have been awarded and the contractor had been doing his job, but the issue of compensation, way-leave issue had stalled the project for a long time.
“Even the contractor as we speak is not on site now. And the project had been abandoned for some time now. And vandalism is taking its toll on that project.
“Whereas the Sub-station at Nsukka has been completed and commissioned; the expansion at the New Haven Sub-station had been completed, tested, commissioned.
“The line (transmission line from New Haven sub-station to Nsukka sub-station) is a problem.
“And this is suffering our people in Nsukka and its environs.’’
Cue out audio
Nwokoye appealed to community leaders and other stakeholders to help the company achieve its mandate by sensitising their people to the need to support power projects bearing in mind that they were originally conceived to facilitate the country’s economic growth. (NAN)
KSN/LAB/YEE
Edited by Lydia Beshel/Emmanuel Yashim
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