Arrangements have been concluded by the management of the Jos Electricity Distribution (JED) Plc to deploy drones and Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) around its installations to checkmate the activities of vandals threatening its operations.
The Managing Director of Jos Disco, Engr. Abdul Mohammed, who disclosed this at the three-day Customer Complaint Resolution meeting in Jos Plateau State, organised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), said the new measure is aimed at curtailing the threat of vandalism in the four states of Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, and Plateau.
Engr. Mohammed said in addition to the drones and CCTV, security operatives have been mobilised and well-detailed to aid the company in apprehending criminals who are bent on vandalizing electricity facilities.
He advised communities to take ownership of the installations in their localities, as it will help safeguard transformers and other electrical equipment closer to them.
He assured of a steady power supply if the activities of vandals can be halted and also promised that the company will provide more meters for its customers who have not been metered.
Responding to private individuals or companies that would want to invest in meter procurement, the JED boss said regulators now allow third parties, which are non-licensed operators, to invest in the system through a project agreement.
“Any individual, corporate organization, or community that wants to invest in the system now has the opportunity to do so.” “A structured repayment program is also fashioned into the agreement,” Mohammed said.
The Managing Director disclosed that the company was poised to meter every consumer by injecting over 417, 000 meters into its network.
According to him, JED has sealed all contractual agreements with meter providers, the World Bank, and the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP), adding that With NMMP phase one coming into play very soon, the company is set to meter more of its customers.
“With the World Bank Intervention being in process, we expect 305,000 from NMMP phase one and also expect another over 100,000 in the World Bank Intervention program, and currently, we have 12,000 meters processed from two days ago.
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