BPC explains high connectivity costs

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Tuesday September 6, 2011 00:00

 

BPC spokesperson Mbaki Kgwarae, told the Mogoditshane-Thamaga Sub-Council meeting that only villages and towns that always had a standard cost of connecting electricity will benefit from the P5,000 flat rate. He explained that all areas that did not have the standard cost will continue to get varying quotations until such a time that they will be included in the programme.

'We will move towards the P5,000 standard cost,' he explained to councillors who had slammed BPC for outrageous connectivity costs. He said that though the process is slow, they are reimbursing all those who were charged higher than the standard cost in the Mogoditshane-Thamaga area. Kgwarae was responding to councillors who had complained that BPC has failed to fulfill its promise to charge a standard connection fee of P5,000 in the area.

The promise included people living outside the targeted areas. The councillors said that having electricity at home remained a dream for many who were outside targeted areas since they were asked to pay huge amounts of money for connectivity. They said some paid as high as P400,000. The bill could be much higher for people outside the targeted areas.

Councillors present said that considering conditions in which most Batswana in villages live, it was almost impossible for some people to raise the required amount to have electricity in their homes.

One councillor accused BPC of failing to take services to consumers because of its profit-orientated approach. 

'BPC has failed Batswana because all they are concerned about is making money through their outrageous bills. They are not concerned about how best they can serve Batswana,' he said.

'If they were serious, they would copy from other companies like Mascom. Mascom gives you a phone for free and lets you pay for using it. BPC should also consider connecting electricity for free and then let people pay for using it,' he asserted.

The councillors accused the corporation of not living up to its promises after it said that those who got the 'outrageous' quotations for taking electricity outside targeted areas would be reimbursed.

Kgwarae responded that councillors should be aware BPC did not make profit and whatever it gained was incidental. He said that councillors should be aware that already over 300 villages had electricity, a sign that BPC wanted to develop and empower Batswana.

He said that councillors should be mindful that taking electricity to people was expensive and BPC had no choice but to charge high amounts.

He said that each transformer had a capacity relevant to a population that it was designed to supply in a particular area at a particular time. He explained that BPC was facing the challenge of rapid village and town developments and expansion. He stated that should there be other developments outside targeted areas, applicants were asked to pay more.

'Each transformer has a capacity design for a population of an area at that time. It is expensive when we have to take electricity outside the targeted area because it is very expensive to connect high voltage lines. So yes, costs can go up as high as a million,' he explained.