NamPower ready to pull plug on Gibeon – again

THE southern village of Gibeon faces another power cut by December, unless it settles its bills with NamPower.

The Namibian has been informed that the Village Council owes NamPower close to N$400 000. According to a reliable source close to NamPower, the Council has failed to repay a single cent, leaving the bulk electricity supplier with no option but to suspend the power supply when the school holidays start.Recently Gibeon residents were plunged into darkness for about three weeks after NamPower pulled the plug on the village over non-payment.NamPower restored the electricity supply after the Village Council agreed in writing to pay off the debt in instalments, on top of its monthly electricity bill.”They [Village Council] have now given NamPower the power to disconnect the electricity supply since they have failed to honour the agreement,” the source said.For the sake of schoolchildren writing year-end exams, the bulk supplier had decided to postpone the power cut until the end of the term, the source added.When approached for comment yesterday, the Village Council’s Secretary, Eric Kuhlman, acknowledged that the Council was struggling to make ends meet.He said the situation was so bad that Council workers had only received last month’s salaries yesterday.”With the meagre income received from the villagers for last month’s services rendered to them, we were at least able to pay workers’ salaries,” he said.”Unless a Good Samaritan comes our way, we really don’t know where the funds will come from to avert the possible blackout.”The Village Council spends N$70 000 a month on salaries.The Permanent Secretary of Local Government, Erastus Negongo, yesterday ruled out any bailout from Government to avert a power cut at Gibeon.”The Government does not have the resources and capacity to bail out any local authority,” he said.”If local authorities fail to operate on sound principles of cost recovery, then who is to blame,” he asked.Negongo acknowledged that small local authorities faced challenges in terms of revenue collection and in some instances charged less for services than the bulk utilities did.However, he said that they should mobilise their own resources to make ends meet.According to a reliable source close to NamPower, the Council has failed to repay a single cent, leaving the bulk electricity supplier with no option but to suspend the power supply when the school holidays start.Recently Gibeon residents were plunged into darkness for about three weeks after NamPower pulled the plug on the village over non-payment.NamPower restored the electricity supply after the Village Council agreed in writing to pay off the debt in instalments, on top of its monthly electricity bill.”They [Village Council] have now given NamPower the power to disconnect the electricity supply since they have failed to honour the agreement,” the source said.For the sake of schoolchildren writing year-end exams, the bulk supplier had decided to postpone the power cut until the end of the term, the source added.When approached for comment yesterday, the Village Council’s Secretary, Eric Kuhlman, acknowledged that the Council was struggling to make ends meet.He said the situation was so bad that Council workers had only received last month’s salaries yesterday.”With the meagre income received from the villagers for last month’s services rendered to them, we were at least able to pay workers’ salaries,” he said.”Unless a Good Samaritan comes our way, we really don’t know where the funds will come from to avert the possible blackout.”The Village Council spends N$70 000 a month on salaries.The Permanent Secretary of Local Government, Erastus Negongo, yesterday ruled out any bailout from Government to avert a power cut at Gibeon.”The Government does not have the resources and capacity to bail out any local authority,” he said.”If local authorities fail to operate on sound principles of cost recovery, then who is to blame,” he asked.Negongo acknowledged that small local authorities faced challenges in terms of revenue collection and in some instances charged less for services than the bulk utilities did.However, he said that they should mobilise their own resources to make ends meet.