Limited fuel causes power cuts
Kwakwani residents protesting the power shortage on Friday
Kwakwani residents protesting the power shortage on Friday

– Kwakwani residents protest situation

THE Kwakwani Utility Incorporated (KUI) is now battling to provide electricity to over 1200 households in the community with half the amount of fuel that was previously supplied by RUSAL. For years, the company was supplied fuel every three days, now that same amount of fuel is provided every six days.

According to regional officials, the company was not given any detailed reasoning as to why the fuel supply was cut, but they were just informed that the company would not be able to provide same, every three days as was done previously.

This has resulted in the community having blackouts for eight hours every day. From 05:00 hrs to 10:00 hrs there is blackout and from 16:00hrs to 18:00hrs daily. About 15 residents from the Lamp Island and Water Front area protested in front of KUI on Friday with placards venting their frustration over the daily ordeal of being without electricity. The protest action is expected to continue on Monday.

Vice-Chairman of Region 10 Elroy Adolph, who resides in Kwakwani, noted that the Ministry of Public Infrastructure is aware of the situation and is seeking a contingency plan to deal with it. The company has put forward the option of purchasing duty-free fuel from other suppliers so as to keep the cost down. Kwakwani residents do not pay for the electricity they consume and the government provides a subvention to KUI to purchase from RUSAL. If the company is to purchase fuel from outside sources, it will haemorrhage the subvention coffers which are replenished every three months.

“It will cost almost thrice the amount we are paying for fuel from Rusal, because we have to take into consideration VAT, transportation cost and other expenses and we definitely cannot afford that, so we are seeking duty-free fuel as a solution to the problem,” Adolph noted.

DON’T BLAME US
While this newspaper was not able to contact Russian managers at Rusal, an employee familiar with the situation noted that the blame should not be placed on RUSAL, but KUI for requesting less fuel since two new generators were bought in March of 2018. He said that the old generators that had worked at KUI for years were replaced by two new generators. The managers at KUI then requested to purchase less fuel for the generators with the belief that they would have consumed less fuel. They were however wrong and now the fuel they requested is insufficient to supply 24 hours of electricity to the community. “What they need to do, is instead of blaming RUSAL, is go back to the negotiating table and decide on how much fuel these two generators really need,” the employee said.
In March, two new 260- kilowatt engines were commissioned, hoping that it would have met the demand of residents. The old engine, according to KUI, was in dire need of overhauling. The decision to purchase the new engines was taken following a July 2017 study by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.

POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED
Meanwhile, some residents of the community are of the opinion that the protest action was politically motivated, since Local Government Elections (LGEs) are quickly approaching. One resident said that it was instigated by an individual running independently, who is seeking to make the government look bad and to gain political mileage for his campaign. He said that is the reason the protest was not well supported, especially from residents in the Kwakwani Park area, who are aware of the strides made by the government to better the quality of electricity supply with the purchasing of the new generator sets, the years of subsidising the electricity and the improved standard of KUI. He noted that over the last months, KUI’s staffing has increased to over 60 workers. Plans are also in the budget to purchase a tank next year to store fuel and to stabilise the electricity before December month

Residents are calling for the issue to be resolved earliest and said even if it calls for them commencing payment for electricity, they are willing to do so. Alfred Austin of Lamp Island said, “We are willing to pay, because this is frustrating, people thing spoiling, fridge and freezer and all these things, we are willing to pay to make this better for us.” Only corporate businesses in Kwakwani pay for electricity.

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