By Adewale Sanyaolu
Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has said that it has restored power supply to Ogwashi-Uku community, headquarters of Aniocha-South Local Government Area of Delta State, after seven years of outage.
The reconnection of public power supply to the community, according to BEDC, is expected to be extended to other residents of Ogwashi-Uku in due course as more transformers will be deployed and energised as enumeration, revalidation, network rehabilitation and safety checks continue in due course.
A statement from BEDC explained that the reconnection process started with a town hall meeting organised by the members of Ogwashi-Ukwu D-Forum in collaboration with the management of BEDC led by the Chief State Head (Delta), Mr. Ernest Edgar, the Business Manager, Asaba Business Unit, Adekola Abiodun, and his technical team.
The town hall meeting, which had in attendance delegates from the various quarters and sub-clans that make up Ogwashi-Uku and environs, was meant to brief the residents on the extent of job done so far, including the completion of re-enumeration in some areas, the installation of transformer statistical meters as initiated by the company at no cost to the community, among other ongoing processes.
Edgar, in his speech, expressed shock at the level of vandalism within the network coverage area despite rehabilitation work carried out by BEDC in June 2016, and pleaded with the community leaders to work with the company to educate the public on the need to protect the equipment.
He further emphasised the need to re-orientate and sensitise the residents on importance of safety as delivered by BEDC Safety Manager, Mr. Gilbert Nweke, who enlightened the delegates on basic safety tips to be disseminated to residents in readiness for the gradual reconnection of power in phases to the various areas. This approach, he explained, will create the needed awareness to gradually introduce the residents to the reality of the reconnection exercise after so many years to avoid accidents.
