Businesses suffer losses after weeks of power outages
An electrician checks power transmission lines. FILE
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Kenya Power engineers say they are rerouting lines after they were unable to access damaged cables.
Hundreds of firms located within Nairobi’s Central Business District will endure at least another week of losses as Kenya Power engineers haggle with key government agencies over alternative power supply routes.
Premises between Kenyatta Avenue, Kimathi Street, University Way and Koinange Street have been experiencing power blackouts after supply lines got damaged. Kenya Power has been unable to access some of the damaged cables necessitating rerouting of lines and weeks of power outages.
Kenya Power engineers said they were waiting for the County of Nairobi and the Kenya Highway Authority (KeNHA) to provide alternative supply routes.
“The two alternative supply lines to this area have all experienced faults but repairing them will take up to one week because we have to negotiate alternative passageway for our cables with KeNHA and Nairobi County government,” Charles Mwaura, a Kenya Power engineer told the Business Daily.
The premises in the upper side of the CBD have suffered power blackout from last week, with most of them resorting to stand-by generators after the Kenya Power experienced hitches with its supply lines.
The area gets its power from two substations, one based around the Nairobi Cathedral area and the other one at the University of Nairobi.
The line from the Cathedral substation has experienced fault near Laico Regency Hotel. The cables that connect the CBD from University of Nairobi substation have also been damaged but cannot be repaired because the China Wu Yi did not provide for an electricity channel when it renovated the University Way.
“The easiest way out that we have opted for is to get permission from KeNHA and a licence from Nairobi County to pass our cables temporarily across the flyover currently being constructed across the University Way,” said Mr Mwaura.
But the affected businesses have rejected the power distributor’s explanation saying the breakdown in power supply reflected a general fall in the level of its service delivery.
Through their lobby, the Nairobi Central Business District Association (NCBDA), the traders said many other businesses outside the areas covered by the two substations have also been subjected to intermittent power outages.
“It is ridiculous for Kenya Power to blame other agencies when it has an option to roll out trenchless cables,” said NCBDA chairman Timothy Muriuki.
Mr Muriuki said the blackouts have affected many parts of the city, including far-flung areas like Kileleshwa. The firms affected by blackouts have on average been losing Sh10,000 daily in running the generators alone.
“Very few firms can shoulder a burden of this magnitude beyond a week, especially if you add to it lost man-hours of people whose operations are grounded,” he said.
