By Alltimepost.com
Following several months of complaints and some protests against frequent power outage in Edo State, The Government has condemned the poor performance of Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) which it blamed for the darkness at the State Police Headquarters in Benin City.
At a meeting with the management of the company at the State House in Benin City during the week, Governor Adams Oshiomhole expressed dissatisfaction with the low power supply by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) in State, saying it poses a threat to security.
He made reference to the letter written to him by the State Commissioner of Police that the Police Headquarters was in the dark because of a broken transformer that supplied electricity to the facility.
Oshiomhole said it was a serious issue viewed against the background of its importance as a seat of security and place housing inmates.
“We have cells where there are inmates. And of course, you have offices. Police is 24-hour operation. Now, the transformer has broken down, and the police headquarters is in the dark.”
According to him, the Police Command had informed the electricity company for weeks, months, with no solution, saying: “now out of desperation, I have to buy, using tax payers’ money to provide a transformer to the Police Headquarters.“
Oshiomhole regretted that frequent power failure in the state had resulted sometimes in some protests, some violent reactions, obstructions and stories about properties being stolen and vandalized.
“And every day, I am confronted with protests by various communities who are in the dark, either their transformer is not working or it has broken down.
“There are bills people are paying even without light, or they are being over-billed based on estimates as they have no meters,” he bemoaned.
He disclosed at the meeting that as serious as the issue was the State House of Assembly had just made a request to him about the need to spend some money to set up a sub-station that will give more regular power supply to the lawmakers.
“Right now, they are getting less than 4 hours a day in their residential area. That is an arm of government. They have made a request for a substantial investment for us to provide part of the cost in a distribution chain, and when we provide that and they have access to power, how do we get our fund?”
From all our investigations, he warned “we believe that if the situation is not arrested, it could get out of control, and we will have ourselves in a vicious cycle.”
He said the purpose of the meeting was for the stakeholders to discuss the issues and see how they can be addressed in a way that gives the consumer confidence.
“And for us, peace and security is number one priority.”
He also referred to some petitions sent to him by private companies in the state complaining about excessive billing, which affects their production.
“There are also communities in the rural areas who have a running battle with NEPA, and I think in Okpella, they have issues there.”
“I think NEPA ended up disconnecting light from some communities for one reason or the other. So, I just believe that we can’t continue that way. We need to have a conversation to see if we can have a common understanding on the rules of engagement, the obligations of consumers and the responsibilities of the Benin Disco.”
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), Mrs. Funke Osibodu, in her response said since the company took over, quite a number of locations, especially factories were given close to 24 hours power.
“And I think those can easily be verified. Before now, companies had been pushed out of the network, and those were one of the things we quickly went to task on so that employment can improve because when companies are able to do more, employment can improve.”
She credited her company with being the first in the country to introduce what she called regimented load-shedding, adding that even the current minister of power, on a visit raised this as an important issue, that people know even if it is not enough, they know what they are getting and when they are getting it.
“I believe to some extent that we successfully did that. So, we fixed the time for different areas when they will get power, and we do our best to keep to those times.
“Sometimes, it doesn’t happen that way because of generation, which we will update you on. By and large, in different areas they have different timelines that we give them power and it is quite predictable.”
Osarumwense Okunmwendia liked this on Facebook.