Power cuts are over, EWSA announces

EWSA technicians in the final stages of the repair works. (photo Farouk Kaweesi)

The Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) on Friday announced that the two pylons which collapsed around three weeks ago in Jabana are as good as repaired. As a result, power distribution would return to normal by Saturday.
“We are now happy to assure Rwandans that there will no more power cuts by tomorrow (Saturday), except in case of normal technical issues,” announced Simon Pierre Habyarimana, EWSA’s head of power transmission.
The official was on speaking on Friday morning at Jabana substation at a time when technicians were connecting cables to the newly erected pylons. They had collapsed on March 19 after screws and pins had been stolen from them, causing them to collapse when heavy winds occurred later. EWSA estimates the cost of the repair at Frw 30 million.
To manage the situation, Habyarimana explained, a load shedding scheme was applied where power was distributed on rotation basis around Kigali between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm. The body was registering a loss of 4MW every day, causing an additional loss in revenue from power sales of Frw 84 million to the authority.
To avoid a similar situation in the future, EWSA will work closely with the security services in order to arrest anyone who may be involved in damaging its infrastructure. “The infrastructure is constructed thanks to Rwandans’ taxes for public interest. When people damage them, everyone suffers; so we seek collaboration to sustain public interest,” noted Proper Mubera Birori, head of PR and community officer at the utility.