By Michael Odiah
The Delta State Commissioner for Energy, Hon. Newworld Safugha has said that the state government has spent over N4.4bn on 115 Electricity Projects in the state since May 2015, adding that “we are now enjoying over 40 megawatts in the state unlike in the past, when we barely had 20 megawatts.”
Safugha, disclosed this when he briefed journalists in Asaba on the activities and achievements of his Ministry during the 2018 Ministerial Press Briefing at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Information, Asaba, stressing that a total of 83 projects were executed by the Ministry of Energy at the sum of N3,970, 903,110.76, while the Rural Development Agency (RDA) executed 32 at the cost of N507,025.50.
Speaking further, the commissioner said that in the area of street lights that “His excellency directed that in order to cut costs of running the street lights in the state, that we should switch from generating plants to energize the lights to the use of transformers” stressing that, “we are still spending money too, but not as much as using generators, but we also spent so much on the rehabilitation of these street lights, as most of the cables had been vandalized”.
Hon. Safugha noted that although the power sector had been privatized, “BEDC is enjoying the monopoly and that is a challenge to us, as they are the only company distributing power to Delta and 3 other states”, but the state government has not seized to intervene in its capacity, taking cognizant of the SMART Agenda which clings on “prosperity for all Deltans”, hence, “under the electricity power supply, Government in its intervention efforts has facilitated the reconnection of communities to the National Grid, reinforced, rehabilitated and upgraded electricity power supply infrastructures throughout the State” he added.
The Commissioner for Energy further disclosed that the state government had the construction of LED All-In-One Solar Streetlights at Okerenkoko; installation of All-In-One LED Solar Streetlights at Old Lagos/Asaba-Agbor road and installation of All-In-One LED Solar Streetlights at Owa-Ekei/Owa-Alero Road.
