PHCN Frustrates Lagos Rural Electrification Effort

LAGOS, April 15, (THEWILL) - Lagos State Government has said the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is the clog in the wheel of its rural electrification projects as a significant number of rural communities to which it supplied about 87 transformers in the 2009 fiscal year have not been connected to the national grid.

The state Commissioner for Rural Development, Prince Lanre Balogun Thursday disclosed this during a ministerial briefing held at the state secretariat, Alausa to mark the third anniversary of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola's (SAN) election as governor of the state.

According to the commissioner, PHCN’s indecision to connect the state’s rural communities to the national grid had crippled its rural electrification projects.

But Balogun assured that the state government would not desist from engaging PHCN so as to ensure that all rural communities to which it had supplied transformers are connected to the national grid as expected and required.

He explained that the PHCN "is in charge of power generation, transmission and distribution in Nigeria. It is also the only authority to collect tariff. But we cannot fold our hands and allow our rural population suffers. That is why we have made an intervention through the provision of transformers to the rural communities.

"We have been able to supply 87 transformers to different communities in the state. But we cannot connect those transformers to the national grid without the permission of PHCN. Unfortunately, almost all the rural communities to which the state government supplied transformers have not been connected.

"We are at the mercy of PHCN. But we hope that the rural communities will be connected to the national grid. We are in collaboration with the PHCN as we plan to provide 100 additional transformers in 2010," the commissioner said.

On solar-powered projects, Balogun said the state government had made provision for off-grid solar-powered electrification projects, especially for the rural communities that cannot be accessed by the national grid under its energy framework.

He said: "As a result, 100 electrification projects were awarded within the period under review out of which 74 of the projects in different parts of Lagos rural communities have been successfully executed and are effectively functioning."

He said the state government "has completed a total number of 12 rural electrification projects out of the 16 awarded projects during the period under review. From the 52 intervention projects, 43 have been completed, respectively representing 75 percent and 83 percent of the total projects awarded."

Balogun added that the state government had established Lagos State Botanical Park at Epe aimed at providing a relaxing oasis from the hustle and bustle of Lagos metropolis and Centre for Rural Development established to serve as a policy research-oriented institution.

Speaking on the state botanical park project, the commissioner said, "It is hoped that the park will be a National Historical Landmark. It will also be one of the greatest and most interesting research botanical parks in the world that will be distinguished the beauty of its diverse landscape with emphasis on research into the development of medicinal plants."