NDPHC blames delay in completion of transmission lines on vandals, host communities

The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) said that activities of vandals and host communities were delaying completion of projects on transmission lines across the country.

Benson Iroha, Head, Environment and Community Relations, said this during an inspection tour of some transmission lines in Imo and Abia on Monday.

He said that some community members erected structures that would not be habitable on lands which compensation had already been paid by the government.

“It is obvious that the structures they put up are not built for some one to live in,” he said.

He noted that the structures in most cases were built just to attract compensation from the Federal Government.

Iroha stressed that in some cases, the communities went to the extent of cutting down electric towers.

He said that the problem was delaying contractors from completing their work within stipulated period at a high cost to government.

Iroha said that to allow construction of transmission lines, there was a need to create a corridor of Right of Way to build the two level transmission lines of 330KV and 132KV voltage levels.

He said that court cases had been one of the challenges to transmission lines project along the Port Harcourt, Egbema, Ikot Ekpene and Owerri axis.

“We had gone through these processes sometimes more than twice due to legal constraints where people get court injunctions to stop our nearly completed facilities,” he said.

He blamed some state governments which were part of the process of allocating the places and overseeing NIPPs compensation for the problem.

Also, Dr. Albert Okorogu, Executive Director, Networks, said the company was making efforts to stop the sabotage and encroachment of transmission facilities which are affected in Imo, Enugu, Abia and Cross River states.

He said that energy was stranded in generation plants due to destruction of transmission facilities.

“These powers are stranded in our generation plants, with people frustrating its evacuation and distribution to the nation.

“If these facilities are continually hacked down, how then do these power get to Nigerians even when there is over 6,000mw capacity to generate power,” he said.

Godwin Onwe, a resident of Amoji community of Enugu State, said the people were not adequately compensated, an allegation the officials refuted.

“We had issues with what they wanted to compensate us with which we disagreed but later got something from them,” he said.

Claudius Ogunride, General Manager , Transmission, said that theft of equipment was a serious challenge to the transmission lines.

NAN