By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
The Managing Director, Lascurt Hotel, Warri, Mr Austin Wareyai, has appealed to the Delta State government to prevail on the management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to install light in his facility as well as stop the regime of extortion
Wareyai made the appeal at a press conference held at Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
The hotelier lamented the unwholesome attitude of the electricity company toward installing national electricity in his hotel.
Wareyai said that the development was suffocating his business because he had to constantly rely on generating plant with extra cost on fueling.
The transformer in contention
The entrepreneur noted that electricity was crucial to the optimal successes of hotel investment and appealed to the state government and other relevant bodies’ intervention.
According to him, he spent about N200,000 daily on diesel to power the multi-billion Naira facility that commenced operations on Oct. 31, 2021.
Narrating his ordeal, the hotelier alleged that he approached the management of the BEDC to install electricity in his facility, adding that he went through the normal processes and provided all the requirements.
“We applied for 33KVA because that is the line that produced stable electricity and which other business outlets in this area are using.
“They told us that since our facility is a mega one, we should go for 500KVA transformer, that is the only way it can work.
“We applied for 500KVA, bought the transformer and also provided all the logistics.
“Instead of the 33/500KVA, they brought 11/500KVA, we told them that what we bargained for was 33/500KVA and paid for it. They said this is what they approved for us.
“In our own wisdom, we asked for the way forward and they said we have to increase the transformer and reapply for NEMSA approval.
“They brought another cost of about N18 million to buy One MVA transformer including construction and every other thing.
“We applied for it since that is what will make us to have stable electricity to do our business.
“After all the collections for logistics and others, they brought another memo asking us to pay N1.5 million as security deposit for the previous 11/500 KVA transformer which we had already paid for.
“Having secured the NEMSA’s approval, for them to install the One MVA transformer now, they said we should pay a sum of about N8.9 million as additional security deposit.
“They said that we have to pay the money so that whenever we default in our monthly payment, they will use part of the money to offset the bill.
“Aside that, they are also asking for about N4 million for an Industrial Metre. Where can we get all these money after all they have collected from us?
“In summary, we have spent over N11 million so far on transformer. Now they are asking us to pay additional N18 million for another transformer including construction.
“This is aside the N8.9 million for two months security depisit they are asking for. They also want us to pay about N4 million for and Industrial Metre. These are quite outrageous. We decided to say no, things cannot continue this way,” he said.
Wareyai said that the hotel currently had over 100 staff strength, expressing concerns that the employees could fall back into the labour market which had already being saturated should the business collapsed.
He noted that for oil and gas business to grow, the hospitality industry must be sustained because the multinationals need conducive environment to lodge.
While appealing to the state government, Wareyai urged the management of the BEDC to have a rethink on their decision in the interest of the employees already engaged by the hotel
“Imagine in the last three months we have been running our facilities with generating plant. Imagine the cost implications of buying diesel.
“So, we are appealing to the state government to help us to sustain this business because we cannot run it without electricity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mrs Helen Ogagare, the Public Relations Officer (PRO), BEDC Effurun branch, could not be reached for a reaction.
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