WARRI— MANAGING- Director of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Engr. Joseph Makoju, says the step-down of the 30 MVA 132/33KV at Amukpe, Sapele in Delta State will certainly commence before the end of this month.
The news came as a welcome relief to residents of the community which hosts one of the nation’s major Thermal Plants. They have been at daggers drawn with NEPA in the last two years when the contract for the down-drop project was awarded. The project was abandoned by the contractor owning to lack of funding. In the last two weeks, residents have openly expressed fears that NEPA might not keep to its November deadline for circumstances beyond its control..
Engr. Makoju who visited the abandoned project site in Sapele in company of the contractor and other NEPA officials, last weekend, admitted that lack of fund was responsible for the delay in the take off of the project. But as Sapele people rejoice over the re-assurance from the NEPA boss, some of the workers are not happy with the decision of government to reduce the staff strength of the Authority. Engr. Makoju who confirmed the impending lay off said the affected staff would be adequately compensated.
On the Sapele step down project, he said: "I am happy to tell you that the contractor is with me here and he knows what I am saying, that is to quickly mobilise to site and start work immediately." Engr. Makoju, however, said the Amukpe project was proposed by NEPA not because of pressure or threat from any quarter but as a result of the importance of Sapele Power Station to the country. The NEPA boss said he held extensive talks with the contractor and that work on the project would be on a continuous basis as soon as he moved to site. He appealed to the beneficiaries, particularly Amukpe and Sapele communities, to exercise patience as the project would be completed as early as possible.
He called on the leaders in the area including politicians to always display good and matured leadership qualities for the interest of peace as no meaningful development could be achieved in a hostile environment, pointing out that the attitude of some of the leaders left much to be desired.
Engr. Makoju acknowledged the incessant power outage in Sapele and reaffirmed the commitment of the Authority to improve power supply nationwide. He pointed out that the problem was not in Sapele alone but that it also affects other parts of the country.
He said lack of funds generally resulted in the malfunctioning of some turbine units and assured that the problem would soon be addressed.
Expatiating on its staff reduction, said it was not meant to witch-hunt or penalise anybody as nobody would be punished for anything that was not within his or her control. According to him, "unbundling is not bringing any disaster or adverse effects on the staff." The NEPA boss urged the workers not to entertain any fear and also hinted that negotiation was presently going on between the Authority and a team of investors to help it in the rehabilitation of some broken units in the station.
