Kafanchan residents appeal to KEDCO to restore electricity supply

Residents of Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a local Government Area, and environs have expressed concern over the continuous shutdown of electricity services by the management of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) after a protest on epileptic power supply and over-billing in January led to the destruction of property at the DisCo’s facility.

A welder, Iliya Abubakar, who spoke with our reporter, said the non-supply of power had affected his business negatively, adding that he now depended on gas to render services.

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He said he now spent between N5,000 to N5,500 on gas in order to meet deadlines., explaining that, “If you multiply that by 30 days, that is N150,000; which is high for a business like mine.”

Abubakar Abdurrazaq who owns a barbing saloon said he spent between N1,000 and N1,200 every day on his generator in order to attend to customers.

Arewa Trust Weekly gathered that the lack of electricity in the area had led to high usage of generating sets with those selling and fixing the generators making brisk business.

Kamal Inusa, a generator mechanic, said he used to repair between five and 10 generators daily but that he  repaired dozens daily since the power outage.

He said, “A second-hand generator that we used to sell between N4,000 and N7,000 is now sold at N15,000, while the ones sold at N10,000 are now sold at N35,000 each.”

Speaking on the development, the Executive Chairman of Jema’a LGA, Peter Danjuma Averik, expressed disappointment over the delay by the DisCo to restore power to the area despite concerted interventions and pleas from key community and political leaders.

He said he led a high-powered delegation of eminent stakeholders, including a member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Ali Kalat, to the company’s headquarters in Kaduna to broker understanding with the DisCo, but wondered the continued delay.

He, however, appealed to the people to remain calm and patient, assuring them that he would not relent in his effort to ensuring that electricity was restored to the area soonest.

He advised the youths to always explore legal means of addressing issues instead of resorting to demonstrations which he said were often hijacked and used for violence.

The management of KEDCO), through its Managing Director, Engr Garba Haruna, said it was not in the company’s interest to deny power supply to any area and regretted that the actions of a disgruntled few had affected many consumers.

Engr Haruna, who spoke to a delegation of concerned citizens led by the Senator representing kaduna South, Danjuma Laah, said the management would consider how to ensure that defaulters paid their bills and how to avoid a repeat of the destruction of equipment at its Kafanchan office.

On his part, Sen Laah lamented that the destruction of facilities at the DisCo’s office and the withdrawal of electricity had crippled businesses and other socio-economic activities in the area.

The lawmaker, therefore, urged the management of reconsider its decision for the benefit of small-scale business owners and appealed to residents to resort to legal means of addressing grievances.