Keetmans prepares for SELCo The Keetmanshoop Town Council has given itself six months to prepare for eventual take-over from the Southern Electrical Company (SELCo). Disgruntled Keetmanshoop residents have over the past months, demanded the removal of SELCo as a provider of electrical services in the southern town.In the absence of a regional electricity distributor, its spokesperson Dawn Kruger told Namibian Sun that the municipality was steadily putting in place preparatory measures.
“The Keetmanshoop municipal council has put in place a joint steering committee that came up with a hand-over schedule for the successful transition of electricity distribution from SELCo to the Keetmanshoop Municipality.
“The schedule specifies various deliverables that need to be achieved before the envisaged take over date of 1 July 2017, which is the start of our new financial year. This steering committee is committed to the timeous delivery of all deliverables and will do anything in its power to achieve it,” Kruger said.
The committee consists of Keetmanshoop municipality management and councillors as well as SELCo representatives, who will be reporting to the municipal council, SELCo, Electricity Control Board, Nampower and the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development on a regular basis.
“A successful take-over from the SELCo will depend on meeting deliverables. The municipality plans to take over all services provided by SELCo by 1 July 2017 when the financial year starts. These six months are an interim period to iron out all the technical difficulties,” Kruger said.
SELCo has of late come under increasing pressure from the residents of Keetmanshoop. A group of residents made it clear on Thursday last week that they were against a proposed six-month contract between the municipality and the SELCo.
“What have you been doing all this time? We have elected you to solve our problems, but you continue to allow our economic suffering under this foreign company,” one resident said in frustration.
Keetmanshoop mayor Gaudentia Krohne told the crowd the council had yet to sign the contract and the only solution at the moment points to an extension of the municipality and SELCo's relationship for six months to prepare properly and take over the technical service. “We also do not want SELCo but we have no choice now,” she said.
OGONE TLHAGE