By MYRNA M. VELASCO
As electricity service restoration hasn’t been met as targeted, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) announced that it would be deploying line workers in Western Visayas areas served by electric cooperatives (ECs) walloped by recent typhoon "Ursula."
One of the main areas to be given reinforcement will be Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO), which NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong described to have been “badly hit” by that extreme weather condition ravaging the country’s middle core region on Christmas day.
He said additional line workers will be deployed and mobilized in Aklan “to assist with the continuing power restoration,” emphasizing that “additional 58 line workers will be helping AKELCO in the effort to restore power.”
The other electric cooperatives to be aided by the reinforced contingent of line workers would be the Cebu I to III Electric Cooperatives (CEBECO I, II and III), the Bohol I and II Electric Cooperatives; and the Negros Oriental II Electric Cooperative.
As indicated by NEA, there are already “430 linemen and support personnel working around the province of Aklan to turn the lights back on after the storm.”
Despite what has been observed as slow-paced restoration of electricity service, Masongsong rated the works being carried out at the typhoon-hit areas as “doing well,” with him highlighting the extra support they have been receiving from local barangay electricians and contractors, as well as that of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (PHILRECA); and those of various regional organizations from Visayas and Mindanao.
And given that the promised timeline already lapsed as to when power shall be brought back to the affected areas, Masongsong just opted to appeal for “understanding and patience as to the pace of the restoration works.”
He maintained that “the line crews in the field have been working round-the-clock and doing everything to restore the power as soon as possible.”
The NEA chief stressed “we understand the frustrations of our member-consumers who are still without electricity after the typhoon but we also have to consider the realities on the ground.”
Masongsong further pleaded to the local communities “to support the ECs and their line workers and personnel in carrying out basic tasks, such as collecting rocks to reinforce utility poles in their areas or clearing the vegetation, which caused the falling of the poles during the typhoon.”