11 Jun 2017

Boatlaname, Tswaane and Sesung in the Kweneng District will get connected to the national electricity grid during the current financial year.

Addressing Kweneng District councillors on June 8, Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) customer services manager, Mr Petros Mosholombe said the three villages would be among the 15 earmarked for electrification in the country.

He explained that BPC would also cover about 45 villages for network extensions throughout the country including Mmankgodi, Thamaga, Mmopane and Mmanoko in Kweneng District.

Explaining the criteria used to connect villages to the grid, Mr Mosholombe said the social and business benefit had always played a major part.

He, however, highlighting that the corporation had since opted for the social benefit as the standard criterion.

He said the social benefit questioned whether there were people in a location and if the answer was in the affirmative, the area qualified to be connected to the national grid.

“Another method we consider is that of penetration where we assess if we have done enough to service various districts as sustainable energy for all is at the core of our mandate,” he said.

Responding to the presentation, councillors commended the corporation for connecting the three villages in Kweneng.

They, however, expressed concern on how BPC conducted its business.

Councillor for Kumakwane, Ms Winnie Cassim said BPC did not consult house owners when laying power cables in various locations resulting in power cables criss crossing people’s yards.

Lephaleng councillor, Mr Slumber Mokgosi expressed concern that power outages in Molepolole were frequent, requesting the corporation to do something about it.

For his part, Loologa councillor, Mr Mookami Mantimane said BPC was charging a lot of money through their various levies although Batswana were not getting value for money in regards to network extensions.

On other issues, some councillors complained that households within the boundaries of the network supply area could not be connected despite the fact that they were not far from the transformer.

Responding to concerns, BPC officials said following the introduction of the National Electricity Standard Connection (NESC) in 2010, it has allowed the corporation to upgrade a transformer in a locality to accommodate old households that were not connected to the same transformer.

He, nevertheless, did not dispute that NESC needed some improvements and were currently in talks with government to improve.

Mr Mosholombe also acknowledged that the corporation was aware of frequent power cuts, and that he would refer the matter to the distribution section.

He stated that they were building a substation in Kweneng to address low voltages in Kopong and Metsimotlhabe.

Commenting on criss crossing power lines, he said the corporation requested permission at the land board and other stakeholders such as dikgosi, VDC and residents.

He further told councillors that other villages that would not be connected this year would be catered for in the coming years, noting that their biggest challenge was shortage of funds. ENDS