RUNDU – The Northern Regional Electricity Distributor (Nored) says the prolonged power interruptions at Divundu and surrounding areas in the Mukwe constituency of Kavango East are due to heavy downpours.
According to Nored CEO Fillemon Nakashole, the tilted mahangu fields in the area were also a factor limiting access to damaged power lines for maintenance purposes.
“The Divundu area has been experiencing prolonged power interruptions during the prevailing rainy season due to various challenges,” he said in a statement sent to stakeholders on Friday.
“Those include but not limited to heavy rain, excessive wind storm causing damages to the electricity supply infrastructures and limited access to the power lines for maintenance due to mahangu fields and farms, as well as other technical-related problems on both 66kV NamPower and 33KV Nored Mahango-Bagani line that supply power to Divundu area and across the borders to Botswana.”
Nakashole assured stakeholders and the affected community that Nored’s technical personnel in conjunction with their NamPower counterparts will continue to implement interventions to restore the reliability and quality of power supply, as well as to minimise disruptions in the area.
“Nored would like to apologise for the power interruptions for the past weeks and we kindly request the Kavango East regional leadership, its residents and the business community to bear with us as we jointly arrest and normalise the power supply disturbances,” Nakashole noted.
He urged stakeholders in the region to be patient and to treat all electrical infrastructures as live at all times during this situation to avoid danger when the power goes back on.
In December last year, Divundu Village Council CEO Athanasius Maghumbo complained about the power interruptions at the settlement, saying it was common and affected operations.
“Especially during this time of the year, and we have accustomed to it but not happy about it at all. This has a serious negative impact on the business operations, as it mostly happens during weekends. It is only the business owners with power generators who are at least able to upkeep their operations during the power outages,” Maghumbo said that time.