The chairman of Emohua local government area of Rivers State, Dr. Chidi Julius Lloyd, has berated the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) for keeping communities in the local government area in darkness for more than six months.
This is as he called on the federal government to devolve power so that states that can generate electricity should go into it in order to generate and distribute power.
Lloyd, who spoke in a telephone interview with LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt yesterday, accused PHED of deliberately refusing to replace about 45 collapsed high tension poles along Omoku-Ahoada Road in the state.
He said: “Within this period under review, we have looked at rural electrification and have provided transformers to communities that hither to did not have. Even when it is not our business to provide transformers.
“It is the duty of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company. We were told it is a limited liability company.
“That ought to take over assets and liabilities but they are only interested in assets. They are only interested in giving outrageous electricity bills to communities. “We have been in darkness for God knows how long now, going to six months because of just less than 45 poles that were pushed down along Omoku-Ahoada axis. Here, as an individual, I have provided over 80 poles.”
He stated that most of the energy consumed in Rivers State was generated by the state government and given to PHED to distribute since the state government lacks capability and competence to distribute it.
