Posted by By Smart Wali on
An appeal has gone to the National Electric Power Authority to give concession to the people of Rivers State in the area of power distribution.
An appeal has gone to the National Electric Power Authority to give concession to the people of Rivers State in the area of power distribution. The Commissioner for Information, Hon. Magnus Abe made this appeal during a courtesy visit to NEPA Port Harcourt distribution zonal headquarters.
According to Abe: "Rivers State should be given special concession. We are the only state government that is contributing power to complement NEPA. I believe Rivers State should be encouraged for the amount of its contribution to NEPA. Rivers State is a state that is contributing much to economic development of the country. NEPA should give us special consideration".
He maintained that without power any talk of industrialization will be an exercise in vain. The former law-maker disclosed that over the years Rivers State has built an excellent relationship with NEPA, adding that the state government will continue to see NEPA as a genuine partner in progress.
The Information boss said: "We are looking forward to great expectations in 2005. With what we have heard. It is obvious that we have realized the need to increase our power generation capacity".
Earlier, the chief operating officer of the Port Harcourt distribution zone, Mr. George Chiatula had attributed the major hindrance to adequate power supply in the state to obsolete distribution facility, installed in 1962 with load capacity of about 50MW.
In his words: "At present, the load has grown tremendously to the value of about 247mw, whereas the existing structure can only accommodate 120MW.
Mr. Chiatula noted that in spite of the Rivers State government's efforts to tackle power supply problems in the state by coming up with gas turbines power supply may remain epileptic until NEPA completes a 2x30 MVA, 13.2/33KV substation which is expected to evacuate power from Ahoada to Port Harcourt.