BY Wilfred Okot
Umeme Limited has assured the people of northern Uganda that power blackout will be no more as they are working within this two month rectifying some of the power lines that have been destroyed.
Addressing Journalists in Gulu recently the UMEME Customer Service Engineer John Baptist Mugalu, said the region will not experience an end to power blackouts by December 2020 when Aswa dam is completed.
Magulu explains that the completion of the 42MegaWatt Aswa Hydro Power Project by December 2020, will mean stability of power supply in the region.
He says Gulu will receive 42 megawatts of power as opposed to its current 7.5 megawatts to attract agro processing plants and industries in the region.
He further explained that in preparation for the advent of power the company has replaced rotten wooden poles with metallic ones.
The comment comes at a time when business people in the region are complaining about business failures arising from lack of regular power
Reagan Opiyo, a welder in Gulu’s Industrial Area, says he has experienced a drop in the number of customers with power outages.
He told The Sunrise that he used to earn on average UGX 50,000 before the power began to be unstable. He says that due to power cuts, he makes a mere 10,000 on average a day.
Florence Lalam, a juice vendor at Gulu University says she hardly makes profit from her 15,000 shillings business when power is off.
“This is my job and I am hoping to raise some capital to begin dealing in produce because this juice business is not sustainable without stable power.
She has appealed to the government to consider giving them power as their lives depend it.
