The Bayelsa State Government has directed the Managing Director of the State Electricity Company, Engineer Olice Kemenanabo, to immediately connect Otuasega Community in Ogbia Local Government Area to the national grid.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the directive at an emergency meeting with community leaders of Otuasega and representatives of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, quoted the Deputy Governor explaining that the decision to hook up Otuasega to the national grid had become inevitable following the failure of SPDC to fulfill its earlier promise of providing the community with electricity before the end of December last year.
The Tide reports that the Bayelsa media space sometime late last year was awash with reports quoting a statement from the deputy governor’s office that the SPDC had earlier set December 14th,2021 as target date to commence power supply from the SPDC Kolo Creek Oil and Gas Manifold to cluster communities in the area.
The State’s number two citizen who decried the continued black out in the Otuasega community and its environs, blamed SPDC’s failure on the inability of government, the SPDC, and the people of the community to meet regularly and follow up the resolutions earlier reached at the September 24, 2021 tripartite meeting.
He said the community deserved to enjoy power supply from the National Grid as a temporary measure, while efforts would be intensified to power the community from the SPDC manifold in the first quarter of 2022.
According to Senator Ewhrudjakpo, meetings would be regularly held with SPDC until the power supply issue in the area was laid to rest, noting that he was not happy that the project could not be delivered as earlier agreed, appealing to the people of the community to be patient and remain law-abiding so as to enable government take practical steps towards ending the protracted blackout in the community.
Speaking earlier on behalf of the Otuasega Community, the CDC Chairman, Mr Raniyar Marcus, expressed disappointment with the SPDC for reneging on its promise to deliver the job by the December 14, 2021 deadline collectively agreed by all the parties.
The CDC Chairman noted that the December 21st non-violent protest that led to the shutting down of the SPDC manifold was staged by the community to register their anger, stressing that SPDC had always taken the Otuasega people for granted.
In his presentation, the Community Relations Manager, SPDC (East), Mr. Evans Krukrubo, explained that the multinational company was not happy that the power project was not delivered according to schedule.
Krukrubo, however, thanked the Otuasega community for their maturity, patience and understanding so far, assuring them that the SPDC was committed to working with the state government to deliver on the project by the end February 2022.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa