A resident said that the area had been without steady power supply for the past three months some residents of Rumuodara in portharcourt have decried the low distribution of power by the Portharcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC).
Some of the residents who spoke with the reporters on Tuesday in Port Harcourt said that they do not receive power from the PHEDC in their area.
Mr Clement Onyesom, a resident, said that the area had been without steady power supply for the past three months.
He said that the area has a 500 KVA transformer which might be small for the area, thereby aggravating the problem.
“I am thinking that the low voltage transformer might be the cause of this low supply of power in my area.
“I have prepaid meter but I don’t see light, I buy fuel every day, and it is the same thing with every other person in my area.
“The sound of generator every night poses a lot of discomfort in the neighborhood,’’ he said.
He accused the PHEDC of not responding to their complaints except those on direct transmission problem.
“We use technicians to repair any fault when there is the need because we don’t get response from them (PHEDC).
“PHEDC should tell us why we can’t enjoy light like other residents in Rumuomasi, Woji and other places, even some places in Oyibo enjoy power supply more than us,’’ he added.
Mr Geoffrey Elieza, another resident, said that PHEDC was not performing effectively in his area.
He called on PHEDC to hand over the company to another distribution company if they could not distribute power to the area.
“I have applied for them to give me prepaid meter since 2016, yet I can’t get one,” Elieza said.
Mr Edward Robert, another resident, said that there was need for other power distribution companies to compete with the PHEDC to enable it perform better.
He called on the Federal Government to invite other power distribution companies to invest in Nigeria and compete with PHEDC to distribute power to Port Harcourt residents.
In his response, Mr John Onyi, the Manager, Corporate Affairs of the Electricity Distribution Company, Port Harcourt, said that the company distributed prepaid meter in phases.
He said that residents in Okporo, Rumuodara area were yet to receive the prepaid meter.
“We are not denying them of the prepaid meter but they should be patient, it will get to them, we are now at the Rumuodumanya area.
Onyi said that the company distributes power according to what it gets from the national grid.
” We receive 3, 000 MW as and we distribute power to four states including Rivers, so it is not peculiar to the state.
“We do systematic load shedding or power rotation that’s why they may not have it as they expected,” the manager said.
He called on residents to stop bypassing or diverting the loads from the meter directly to their air condition and other electronics used in their houses.
” They should pay the bills they consumed and allow the meter to read what they use to enable the company pay up their bills to the company where they get their grid,” he said.
Onyi also advised residents to call the customer service emergency line with the number 070022557433 for any emergency or complain.
He condemned the act of self-help by some residents using roadside technicians to tamper with the transformers and other properties of PHEDC.
“Residents should report anybody or their neighbours seen tampering or stealing any property of the company,” he said.
One Response