There is no denying the fact that the electricity supply situation in this country has been very steady for the past six months or so.
However, the frequent power cuts these days seem to be strange in the sense that NAWEC had recently symbolized an enviable success in electricity supply.
We were told sometime ago that the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) is owed over D150 million by area councils and other institutions across the country.
According to the company’s 2008 annual report and financial statement submitted to the Public Accounts/Public Enterprises Committees of the National Assembly recently, there still remains D150 million owed to the company by certain institutions.
NAWEC has also in the recent past given loaded excuses for the erratic power supply it has been dishing out lately to the public.
Whatever the case may be, we believe that NAWEC cannot perform its responsibilities with this huge amount of debt being owed to the national utility company by other institutions.
As we have always pointed out in these pages, service delivery at any level is a very demanding business. It requires enough resources, integrity and energy.
Anyone who wants quality service delivery, especially from NAWEC must be willing to pay for the service at the end of each month when NAWEC issues its bills. To complain of poor quality service delivery, when one does not pay his or her bills on time is unacceptable, and morally indefensible especially when one owes huge arrears to NAWEC.
While we also appreciate the fact that the management of NAWEC is doing everything possible to address this problem, we hope that NAWEC will expedite its work to bring the current situation to normality, for the good of the nation and the national economy.
The benefits of having uninterrupted power supply day in day out are too numerous, and constant electricity supply is the pivot of any modern economy.
“If it weren’t for electricity we’d all be watching television by candlelight.”
George Gobal
