Buying Top up For Blackout…

Is EDSA Cheating The Masses?

Commentary

By Edwina Sia Janga

There is not a day that goes by without residents in the capital city of Freetown experiencing intermittent power outage. In some cases, these happen several times in an hour, often rendering businesses paralyzed and unable to do their work. What is worrying is that most of the fires reported in the city have been as a result of high voltage coming from the power lines of EDSA, though the company denies this and has often put the blame on poor electrification and illegal connections. But as the saying goes: “who feels it knows it”.
It is clear that the reason for privatizing the government electricity institution is to ensure that quality service is provided to consumers at reasonable cost. But judging by the current situation, it seems as if the National Power Authority (NPA) was far better than the new companies (EGTC and EDSA). Since its establishment, EDSA has been complaining about illegal connections and evading of bills by consumers, and thus, introduced the pre-paid system of meter, where one does not have to go to the offices of the company to recharge one’s meter, and could do it through their phones. This move, the company said, was to ensure that people get what they pay for. Unfortunately, the current situation speaks volumes of the failure of EDSA to meet with its obligation to its numerous clients.
As things stand, consumers recharge their pre-paid meters and do not get electricity. The situation has so worsened that whenever electricity come on, you could hear people jubilating, with cries of “light don cam” everywhere. Humiliating as it is, the fact that these continued blackouts by EDSA has prevented people from storing food in their respective refrigerators and freezers. Considering the current economic situation, some families barely cook food for two days, and keep them in their refrigerators, but these get sour, due to the fact that EDSA does not give them the required electricity for the night to preserve their food. With the current price of fuel, very few are able to maintain a generator.
ECONOMIC TOLL OF BLACKOUT
For businesses, including small businesses like the sale of cold water, ginger beer etc, many such businesses are at a loss, as they do not have the means to augment power supply to cool their drinks and products, from which they make their living, as EDSA epileptic power supply disadvantages them. Most of these people depend on this trade to make ends meet, especially the unemployed. Youths who depend on charging of phone for their living are also adversely affected. It is not surprising that many young people today say that the ‘grun dry’. Their source of living has been virtually cut off by EDSA.
As for big businesses, their running cost gets higher by the day as they do not have electricity to power their equipment and accessories. These depend on generating plants to keep their business going, and these costs are then transferred to the consumers. Beach houses and entertainment spots also feel the pinch. Amidst these problems, they have to pay taxes, pay salaries and run their business. It is therefore not surprising that many such businesses embark on downsizing of staff to meet the running cost of their businesses. This appalling situation leads to an increase in the unemployment rate in the country.
OUTBREAK OF FIRES
Investigations mounted by this medium over the causes of the many fires in the city have revealed that a good number of these fires are as a result of high voltage. This writer, has on many occasions interviewed residents and victims of these disasters, who have explained that things were fine in their homes, but after several electricity outages, the power simply surged, in some cases blowing off accessories, whilst in others they see smoke coming from electricity cables in their homes, eventually leading to fire. Even residents in the area have also confirmed that they too experience the change in voltage after the several power outages.
Unfortunately, EDSA officials have always said that the cause of the fire is due to poor electrification. One senior citizen questioned how a house that has been in existence for decades and had had no history of faulty cables or connections, even when NPA was operational, could suddenly have electrical problem that had the potential to lead to fire after several intermittent power cuts. He furthered that it is obvious to any sane individual, without even being an expert electrician, to know that during the several epileptic supply of electricity, that there is a surge in power supply, as the electric bulbs are blown off and some appliances destroyed.
Another concern raised by residents in the city is that the frequent blackouts offers criminals at night the opportunity to raid homes. They explained that during such blackouts, thieves storm homes, often putting people under threat to part with valuable properties. Whilst EDSA complains about people cutting off transmitter cables, many say that the company offers those criminals the opportunity to embark on such enterprises, because if there is power on the cables, criminal will find it very difficult to cut the cables, except people with connections to EDSA staff who have the necessary tools to cut the cables when power is on them.
Some angry residents explained that they are simply recharging their meters only to receive blackouts, and that EDSA has lost relevance. One visitor from abroad explained that things like these do not happen in the developed world, because the companies are sued for economic loss and other damages, but since no power generating company like EDSA has been sued for damages and economic loss, they are having a field day with Sierra Leoneans. After all, when the company discovers illegal connections, they are quick to take legal actions against the culprit, but no one has ever taken EDSA to court for the damages that their operations have caused them, including economic loss, even when they have enough credit in their meters. This, people say, is broad day light robbery by EDSA. People have recharged their meters and have not been able to get the service that they have paid for. Others have suffered loss of equipment and accessories due to the epileptic power supply and its attendant power surge.