By DANIELA ITOE NGUM
Business persons in Kumba, South West Region of Cameroon continue to lament the continuous blackout that has greatly affected business activities in the town.
The situation which started last March 8, 2020, has left many wondering what might be the problem with the country’s electricity supply company, ENEO, as the situation is yet to be normalised.
These business persons in frustration disclosed to The SUN that for more than two weeks most of their income generating activities which solely depend on electricity has been grounded.
According to Martin Mbeng, a Welder in Kumba ‘the prolonged electricity problem in Kumba and some parts of the South West Regions of the country has greatly affected my business. As a welder my activities solely depend on electricity; there is little or nothing I can do without electricity. I need electricity in every step of the way- to melt iron rod, to join two rods, to cut the rods and more. I can’t meet up with the needs of my customers because of the blackout”, he said.
Another business person on her part lamented that she has incurred a lot of loss as a result of the prolonged blackout in the town. “I deal with perishable goods such as tomatoes, pepper, and at times fruits. I scarcely sell all these items on a daily basis, as such I usually preserve them in the fridge in order to sell them the next day. With the current electricity situation in town, I am unable to do so and most of my products end up getting bad”, she explained.
Denizens in Kumba are equally caught up in the bizarre situation as most of them are lamenting on the difficulties they are currently experiencing as a result of the persistent electricity failure: “Most of my food stuffs I stocked in the fridge before the blackout have gone bad. I now take longer time to cook because I make use of kitchen appliances that depend on electricity. My children too can’t effectively revise at home. We are fade-up with the situation”, Celine Mokwe, an inhabitant of Kumba noted.
In a communique from ENEO Cameroon dated March 11, 2020, it states that the electricity failure is as a result of an incident which occurred on the transformer of the Limbe Mile II Substation, March 8, 2020.
The communique further assured the population that their teams are currently working hard to get the situation back to normal as soon as possible.
Business persons dealing with solar bulbs as well as generator repairers have registered a great increase in the sale of their items as most denizens have now resorted in the purchase of solar bulbs in order to curb the electricity problem.
Nonetheless, the population still remains very eager for the full return of electricity so that they can carry out their activities normally.