Power
By Leonard Okachie
Umuahia, Aug. 27, 2018 (NAN) Some residents of Umuahia, Abia capital and its environs on Monday, decried epileptic power supply and its effect on the economic activities of the area.
The residents , who made their views known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia, said that the situation had become worse in recent times, adding that the development had caused a lull in business activities in the area.
They said that the situation had also forced many business concerns in the area to depend on generating sets to function.
They accused Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) of failing in its duty to provide regular power to consumers in the area.
Mr George Ogadinma, who runs a business centre at Uzuakoli Road, Umuahia, said that he depended on his generating set and no longer relied on EEDC.
“Look at my pole; it is over 10 years since I stopped using public light. I stopped because of irregular supply and estimated billing.
“Since then, I have been using generating set, even though it is more expensive,“ he said.
Ogadinma said that officials of the company no longer bring bills to him, adding that company only provided power in the area for a short period, ranging from about two to three hours on an average of three days per week.
He alleged that the company only supplied power when it intended to share bills to electricity consumers.
The business centre appealed to EEDC to supply pre-paid metres to consumers to end the era of crazy and estimated bills in the area.
Another resident, Kanu Ndubuisi, a technician who has a shop on Lagos Street, Umuahia residents were used to irregular power supply and always thanked God any time there was light.
“It has become a tradition to stay for more than one week without light. We are indeed used to it,” he said.
Ndubuisi said that he always receive estimated monthly bill of N9, 000 along with his neighbours.
Mr Sebastine Chijioke, who works at the Courier Unit of Peace Mass Transport Services Ltd., Umuahia, wondered why EEDC would continue to send bills to consumers without commensurate and effective services, noting that residents were paying for services not provided.
He said, “In this place, we depend on a generating set because public power has remained elusive.
“Even when it is available, the voltage is usually low and can hardly power any gadgets,” he said.
Mrs Josephine Orji, a hair stylist and resident of Umuda Isingwu, near Umuahia, said the poor power supply in the area had affected her business negatively.
“I have faced a lot of setback in my business because of irregular power supply,” Orji said.
She said that she was finding it difficult to make profit, saying that she was spending so much money to fuel and maintain her generating set.
“I no longer make profit, rather I spend my earnings to fuel the generator daily and also fix it any time it breaks down because I do not want to close my shop.
She said that the situation had made the business environment harsh and discouraging, “especially for some of us with low capital.”
Mr Sunday Mmeribe, who resides in Ubakala, Umuahia South Local Government Area, urged EEDC to provide the area with transformers.
Mmeribe said that the only transformer in the area was no longer effective because of overload, arising from the increase in population in the area.
Reacting to the development, Mr Malachy Ozoeze, the Acting Network Manager of EEDC in Umuahia District, dismissed the allegations of inefficiency levelled against the company.
Ozoeze described the allegations as blackmail, saying that the company did not have any issues with supply in Umuahia and its environs.
According to him, EEDC gets about 13 per cent of power from the national grid, which he said is being distributed equitably.
He said the installation of pre-paid meters in the area was still ongoing and that the machine would soon get to every consumer.
Ozoeze said that pre-paid meters were free of charge and called on consumers to report any EEDC official that demanded money for the machine.
The network manager, however, said that it was difficult to say when the process would be concluded.
“We cannot give a specific target because our customer base is expanding.
“For now, we are focusing on multiple flats; from four flats and above. I can assure you that very soon, everybody will get the meter,“ he said.NAN)
LEO/USO/DUA
Edited by Sam Oditah/Dada Ahmed