Prime
Umeme contract faces review
Energy Minister Irene Muloni (L) and Mr Gilberto Riccobono (R), the management director Bujagali Power Project, look at a machine indicating the five megawatts of power on Tuesday. PHOTO BY Dalton Wanyera
What you need to know:
The review by government comes amid complaints of heavy load-shedding and high power tariffs.
Jinja
The Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Ms Irene Muloni, has revealed that government is set to review its contract with Umeme, the sole power distributor in the country, to ensure that consumers get the desired service.
According to Ms Muloni, Umeme whose 20-year contract comes up for review next month shall among other issues, be given new targets like implementing the installation of the prepaid metering system to enable consumers manage their bills.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday shortly after touring the Bujagali Power Project, whose construction works were launched in August 2007 at a cost of $860 million (Shs2.1 trillion), the minister said: “Umeme will be compelled to reduce their losses as the only way of having the tariffs drop.”
The major contractor of the dam construction reaffirmed that the first 50MW will be supplied to the national grid by February 7. Ms Muloni said it would eventually relieve the country of expensive thermal power. By the contract agreements, the official commissioning of the 250MW is supposed to be in June 2012.
Responding to questions by reporters, Ms Muloni said even when the dam is fully completed, it will not translate into lower tariffs. She, however, said government has withdrawn the subsidies on power tariffs because it wants to extend electricity to the 88 per cent population that is currently not accessing power, in a bid to promote small scale industries.
Taken aback
A unit of power after scraping the subsidies will stand at Shs800 compared to the current subsidised tariff of Shs526 for domestic use. The initial power production was delayed when the contractors, while in their final stages, discovered a leakage in the installation and were consequently forced to dismantle it over the Christmas season.
The first delay was when the installation encountered a soft rock that called for filling the base with concrete. While carrying out tests on Tuesday, the contractors raised five megawatts to the national grid.
