West Nile leaders warn unreliable power could derail PDM
ARUA – Leaders in West Nile have warned that the intermittent power supply in the sub-region could derail the progress of the Parish Development Model [PDM].
The leaders raised the matter last week as government extended the initial deadline [March 2023] set to connect West Nile to the national electricity transmission grid.
The deadline to connect the region to the power grid was extended to June 2023 by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Ruth Nankabirwa, while commissioning the Olwiyo substation, the 400KV Karuma-Olwiyo and 132KV Karuma-Lira transmission lines in Nwoya district.
The leaders say some of the PDM enterprises will need steady supply of power if they are to engage in value addition.
The PDM launched in February 2020, aims to move 3.5 million households in the subsistence economy to the money through commercial production.
Already, some enterprise groups and individuals in the districts have started receiving the PDM money to engage in income generating activities selected.
Simon Avutia, a retired banker, wants the Energy ministry to expedite the process, saying West Nile Sub-region is in dire need of electricity to spur industrialisation.
He adds: “With this power that goes off anytime, how do you expect industrialisation to be achieved in the region? The result is small-scale production.”
The secretary for publicity West Nile Parliamentary Caucus, George Bhoka Didi, says intermittent power has made it hard for the region to join the rest of the country in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs].
He says, “Our youth have remained poor and turned into beggars because the power we have can’t attract investors. Our farmers do not produce on a large scale because there is no market for their produce since there are no industries. As leaders, we have tried our best, even the previous MPs. Achieving PDM goals may be hard for the West Nile region due to insufficient power supply.”
The area MP Arua Central, Jackson Buti Lee Atima said they would let President Museveni know about the matter. “We shall take advantage of the president’s visit to address him about the urgent need to connect West Nile to the national electricity transmission grid,” the MP said.
In response to the power challenge, West Nile Rural Electrification Company Limited [WENRECO] said there contract with government only permits them to supply 3.5 megawatts of power and are not responsible for power insufficiency in the sub-region.
Kenneth Kigumba, WENRECO’s manager says there is in need for government to provide additional power supply to the region. “Power demand in the region is more than the 3.5 megawatts that we supply and there is nothing that we can do as a company,” he says.
Currently, the 3.5 megawatts of electricity supplied in the region is generated from Nyagak Hydro dam in Zombo district.
https://thecooperator.news/govt-commissions-power-transmission-project-in-northern-uganda/
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