As part of Botswana Power Corporation public education initiatives and commitment to serve customers, BPC will held a mall activation in Maun for residents of the tourism town and greater Maun at the Old Mall recently.
At the activation residents and the listenership of Duma FM who were broadcast partners at the activation, learned about the impact of vandalism on electricity supply, electricity consumption and tariffs, connection requirements and payment plans, as well as issues of electrical safety and power saving.
In a radio interview on DUMA FM and later when addressing the crowd, Distribution Senior Technical Officer in Maun Gakeope Pelemo said that BPC is concerned that electrical cables and equipment are vandalized and urged that there is need for all stakeholders to jointly combat this crime, citing Matshwane area as a problem area as far the issue of is concerned. He also shared with the audience that vandalism of BPC infrastructure affects the reliability of power supply since the vandalised equipment is left exposed and subjected to bad weather, like water coming into contact with live cables causing faults which eventually lead to unnecessary outages. Pelemo added that the main objective of protective earths is to provide alternative path for dangerous currents in order safe guard the public and equipment and if they are stolen/vandalised then there is no return path for fault currents thus causing damage to equipment as well as endangering human and animal life.
For her part Customer Service Officer in Maun Kelebogile Gwamba shared with the audience requirements for applying for connection. Gwamba encouraged customers to use all the platforms provided to apply for connection including online. She also shared with the customers the required documentation when applying for a connection or even separation of meters saying that having the right documents enable BPC to provide excellent service. Gwamba encourage customers to visit or contact the Maun or any other offices should their have any pending issues regarding their connection.
Accounts Supervisor Mpho Phuduhudu encouraged the Maun residents and Batswana to be wary of the electricity consumption to avoid using a lot of electricity which result in having to buy more. “It should be noted that there was increase in tariffs as at 1st April 2018. This alone means that the number of units reduces for a certain Pula amount’ said Phuduhudu when explaining tariffs and consumption. Responding to questions by some who were saying the electricity units are inconsistent every time they reload Phuduhudu explained that for Domestic customer the first 200kw are charged at 0.7692 and the excess of 200kw will be charged at a higher rate of 1.0682. He also said that business use limit is 500kw which is charged at 0.9308 and the excess will be charged at 1.3801 hence the units may not be the same every time a customer makes a purchase dependent on their rate of consumption.
The crowd in attendance also got a chance to win goodies and give aways that included electricity vouchers worth P100 after answering question regarding what was being shared or just by sheer luck of getting a chance to pop a balloon with a winning token. Kids were also not left out as there was face painting, kids colouring competition and jumping castles. Our popular Mascot Mr Watt and famed artist Chris Manto 7 kept the crowd on their toes with song and dance routines.
