OPE to offer electricity connections free of charge
By Eliaser Ndeyanale
OSHAKATI Premier Electric (OPE) is requesting residents of Oshakati whose houses have been connected to the power grid to approach the office so that their houses can be electrified.
Speaking to Confidente this week, OPE’s marketing and events coordinator Utoni Abed said that OPE has launched a programme to electrify all the houses in the town of Oshakati that do not currently have electricity.
He said OPE is now connecting houses in the areas of Ompumbu Urban, Uupindi North, Uupindi South, Evululuko, Oneshila and Okandjengedi free of charge. To qualify, residents should show there is no existing electrical supply to their erven and that they are within 60 meters of an existing 400Volt overhead line.
Residents can apply for the free connection by visiting the OPE offices between 08h00 to 13h00 and 14h00 to 16h30 during week days, and they should bring along proof of the erf ownership, their identification details, and if married, both parties’ identification cards.
He said residents who live on erven that are not theirs but who want the houses they live in to be connected to the grid will be asked to provide written consent from the owner of the erf, as well as a copy of his/her ID.
“Customers residing in zinc units will be supplied with a pre-payment meter and ready board combination to allow the use of electrical appliances in the unit. The ready board is equipped with one light, three ordinary three-pin 16A socket outlets and a two-pin socket outlet, as well while customers residing in brick, cement or concrete units will be required to do an electrical installation in their homes before the service connection will be done. A pre-payment meter will be installed and connected to the unit’s electrical distribution board,” he said.
He said that for the house to be connected, it must be registered with Oshakati town council and the occupant should be paying for water to the town council every month. He said that this programme started in 2006 however the current phase was launched on 3 October 2016 and is ongoing. He also said that since its inception, 925 houses have been connected to power grid.
Abed further stated that usually OPE charges from N$4500-N$5000 for connection but he said the beneficiaries of this programme will not pay any cent.
“We want to encourage the residents that they should come to the office so that we help them,” he implored.