The Central Equatoria State Chamber of Commerce has said the JEDCO power is not efficient and reliable, and urges government to revise the contract with the company over power tariff and reliability.
Robert Pitia, chairperson, says the power tariffs and cutting is affecting businesses, specially those dealing in fresh commodities and clinics.
“If JEDCO and EZRA group of companies have no capacity to deliver efficient and reliable electricity to traders and people, why did the government sign the contract with this companies?” Pitia said on Tuesday during a press conference.
“Power is very essential, you can not give contract to a company which is not providing efficient services in term of this power issues. Hundreds of million are being lost by the business people most especially those dealing in fresh goods.”
Currently, JEDCO charges traders more than 700 SSP per kilowatt of power which he said is expensive and not stable.
“…you are charging with black market rate and moreover you are being given dollar in central bank and again you give power according to your wish and you don’t know how much damages you have caused to the business people and clinics,” Pitia stated.
“Let JEDCO and EZRA group of companies tell us when are they going to fix this mess by action and results, and if they don’t deliver efficient and reliable electricity to traders and the people, let them tell us they cannot deliver because some traders spend a lot of money to just buy pools and cables to connect to JEDCO power grid.”
The commerce chamber called on the government to revisit JEDCO contract and give it to a different company if they are not ready to deliver needed services.
“If the company cannot deliver, there is a provision to cancel the contract and give it to the company that can deliver efficient and reliable electricity to the traders and the residents,” Pitia suggested.
Efforts to reach JEDCO to commend were not successful.
The Juba City Power distribution system is built and operated by EZRA group of companies since 2018
