Power outage has paraly
sed economic activities in Nsukka town, Enugu State following a five-day non-supply of electricity to the area.
The Tide gathered that the university town which relied on public power supply for their businesses had now resorted to generating sets.
Mr Victory Uchendu, who runs a laundry business in town, told newsmen in Nsukka that for the past four days he had been buying petrol to power his generating set because of the situation.
“I give date to my customers when to collect their clothes. Non-supply of power will not be an excuse that is why I buy petrol to ensure delivered on the agreed dates.
“I am spending this money on petrol to ensure I satisfied my customers.
“I went to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) office to know what the problem was, but I was told its transmission problem,’’ Uchendu said.
A frozen meat and fish dealer, Mrs Ngozi Obodo, said that the power outage had seriously affected her business.
“This business requires 24-hours electricity supply to avoid the goods from spoiling as well as sustaining our customers; no customer will buy meat or fish that has spoiled.
“Somebody, who works in EEDC, said the problem is transmission problem and the engineers are working hard to rectify it.
“The development has affected prices of other goods such as sachet water which now sells for N10 per sachet as against the normal price of five naira,” Obodo said.
Mr Anthony Ukah, a manager in one of the filling stations in Nsukka town, said that the station had experienced increase patronage in the past four days.
“I notice many people coming to buy petrol, especially in the evenings to power their generating sets,’’ Ukah said.
An engineer in Faults U nit office of EEDC Nsukka District Office, who pleaded anonymity, said that the outage was caused by a fault at the EEDC power house in Nsukka.
“I am hopeful that the fault will be rectified soonest,” the engineer said.