– No Money, No Power By Wezi Tjaronda WINDHOEK Funds made available to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) through the Central Budget are not enough for the ministry to provide electricity to settlements that are yet to be connected to the grid. The backlogs as well as localities that are supposed to be connected to the grid this year total 165 in all the 13 regions. Omusati, at 29, has the biggest number of localities that should be energised, followed by Kavango with 24 and 23 for Ohangwena. Hardap, Khomas and Karas have the least with one each. While the Rural Electricity Distribution Master Plan states that N$50 million annually could be sufficient to address installation and connection to the grid, the average annual rural electrification budget for the whole country is N$20 million. MME Permanent Secretary, Joseph Ita, said in a statement yesterday this money is inadequate to cover the costs of installation and connection to the grid. Rural electrification projects are implemented in consultation with regional councils, Nampower and Regional Electricity Distribution companies (REDs), whose priority is schools, clinics, other government institutions, formal and informal businesses and other community service facilities such as churches and residential facilities within 500m from the transformer installation point. Ita said although the ministry is aware of the situation in all settlements, which have the infrastructure for electricity distribution and are not yet energized, the settlements could not be connected because of lack of funds. While this is the case, the same limited budget is also supposed to cater for additional financial costs of rehabilitating the network, especially for the networks and installations that have been lying idle for up to six years. “Rehabilitation is essential since it is technically critical that the network integrity, which could have suffered as a result of natural or unnatural causes such as vandalism, has to be restored prior to energisation,” said the PS, adding that since energisation cannot be done without rehabilitation, the ministry has to address these issues simultaneously. As from the current financial year, Ita said the ministry would focus on rehabilitation and connecting the reticulated settlements to the grid until the backlog is covered. He added that while the process of sensitizing the national treasury for additional resources is ongoing, the ministry is also engaging other role players to mobilize additional funding to meet the financial costs, which are ever increasing because of international copper prices. Copper prices have a direct impact on the cost of conductors and distribution transformers. The only significant financial contribution the ministry has received so far is from the European Investment Bank whose funding is available through Nampower. Ita urged other stakeholders to follow examples of the Kavango and Otjozondjupa regions, which have been more proactive in mobilising funding to complement the money that is provided through the central budget.