Usakos residents left in the dark

RESIDENTS at Usakos faced all kinds of challenges yesterday when NamPower cut the town’s electricity supply just before 08h00.

Chairperson of the Council Management Committee Daniel Stramiss confirmed to The Namibian that the cut was the result of a N$290 000 bill still outstanding to the power utility. An urgent council meeting was called yesterday afternoon to try and resolve the matter.”We have not been able to get hold of NamPower so far today,” Stramiss said before lunch.He said the council received very short notice about the cut.”A letter signed by Leake Hangala [NamPower chief] was sent to us on Wednesday around 13h40 telling us the power will be cut by 14h00.”An employee of a service station at the town said Chris Shivolo, the municipality’s financial manager, had phoned businesses to inform them of the impending power cut at 14h00.”When it did not happen, we thought it was just another false warning, but then it hit us this morning,” said the woman.”We are really struggling to cope with the large influx of holiday-makers passing through Usakos today.Some people do not understand our predicament and get angry.”A resident said everybody was very unhappy and upset.”All the business people are losing money,” said a hotel owner who could not provide warm water to guests.”The hotel is fully booked and everybody is asking for a discount.””What about all the meat at the butchery and in our freezers,” asked another resident.While the bigger businesses were running on back-up generators yesterday, people were unsure how long they would be able to sustain it.Dr Rasaz Adeleye, principal medical officer of the Usakos State Hospital, said with the help of a generator they were able to continue functioning normally yesterday.”It would be better if the power comes on,” he said.People also expressed concern over the water supply as the water pumps run on electricity.The town will apparently start running out of water within two days without electricity.Stramiss felt NamPower was being unfair as Usakos had tried its best to respond to the problem of bad debts.”Last month we managed to raise N$420 000 which we paid to NamPower.”He maintained that the N$290 000 was an old outstanding debt.Some residents charged the council was using water and electricity money to pay salaries and allowances to employees and councillors.One woman said yesterday that when she asked the municipality what they had done with the money paid by residents she was told it was used for pensions.She was also told that the cut was the result of Government institutions at the town not paying their accounts.Last month, the town clerk told The Namibian that Government institutions were among the biggest culprits as far as non-payment of accounts was concerned.The municipality started cutting services to them in July.An urgent council meeting was called yesterday afternoon to try and resolve the matter.”We have not been able to get hold of NamPower so far today,” Stramiss said before lunch.He said the council received very short notice about the cut.”A letter signed by Leake Hangala [NamPower chief] was sent to us on Wednesday around 13h40 telling us the power will be cut by 14h00.”An employee of a service station at the town said Chris Shivolo, the municipality’s financial manager, had phoned businesses to inform them of the impending power cut at 14h00.”When it did not happen, we thought it was just another false warning, but then it hit us this morning,” said the woman.”We are really struggling to cope with the large influx of holiday-makers passing through Usakos today.Some people do not understand our predicament and get angry.”A resident said everybody was very unhappy and upset.”All the business people are losing money,” said a hotel owner who could not provide warm water to guests.”The hotel is fully booked and everybody is asking for a discount.””What about all the meat at the butchery and in our freezers,” asked another resident.While the bigger businesses were running on back-up generators yesterday, people were unsure how long they would be able to sustain it.Dr Rasaz Adeleye, principal medical officer of the Usakos State Hospital, said with the help of a generator they were able to continue functioning normally yesterday.”It would be better if the power comes on,” he said.People also expressed concern over the water supply as the water pumps run on electricity.The town will apparently start running out of water within two days without electricity.Stramiss felt NamPower was being unfair as Usakos had tried its best to respond to the problem of bad debts.”Last month we managed to raise N$420 000 which we paid to NamPower.”He maintained that the N$290 000 was an old outstanding debt.Some residents charged the council was using water and electricity money to pay salaries and allowances to employees and councillors.One woman said yesterday that when she asked the municipality what they had done with the money paid by residents she was told it was used for pensions.She was also told that the cut was the result of Government institutions at the town not paying their accounts.Last month, the town clerk told The Namibian that Government institutions were among the biggest culprits as far as non-payment of accounts was concerned.The municipality started cutting services to them in July.