Engr. Uyiekpen Stephen is the Acting Permanent Secretary of the newly created Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
In this interview with Isaac Aimurie, Henry Oqua and Godspower Eguasa of the Edo Communications Organization (ECO), he takes stock of the socio-economic gains of the ongoing Light-up Edo project and assures that a sustainable night life in Edo State is on the way with the innovative way the project is being executed by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government.
Excerpts:
Sir, could you share with Edo people the current status of the light-up Edo project and the role of your ministry in its execution?
At the Ministry of Energy and Electricity we have the mandate to ensure that street lights are on and that Government offices are connected to the Independent Power Plant (IPP), and other power-related issues that require our advice.
On the status of the Light-up Edo project, we have done about 70 per cent work on the first phase that is currently running; we are left with about 30 per cent.
Phase one was designed to be executed for the year 2021, however, due to some challenges we encountered at the inception of the project, it spilled over to 2022.
But we are already designing phase 2 of the project which will cover more areas within and outside Benin City, as the street lights are not only for the city. We are installing the lights in all the three senatorial districts of the state.
We have a lot of streets designated for phase 1, while in some parts we are doing retrofitting, in other parts where there were no street lights before, we are doing fresh installations.
What Maintenance plan does your ministry have for the street lights?
The contract comes with a maintenance plan. However, a sustainable maintenance plan is currently in the works majorly for the conventional street lights. There is almost zero maintenance for the solar street lights except periodic cleaning of the panel for maximum output.
The Ministry is currently setting up the Maintenance and Safety Department that would oversee the maintenance and repairs of the street lights. We are currently synergizing with security and allied agencies such as the Edo State Traffic Control and Management Agency (EDSTMA), participants in the Public Works Volunteers (PUWOV) programme to ensure the protection and safety of the lights.
Every Tuesday, we are always on radio to enlighten the public and sensitize them to protect and key into the Governor’s infrastructure vision for the state. Currently we have help lines which we have given out to the public to call whenever there are incidences of destruction or vandalization of the lights by both motorists and hoodlums in the society.
We are also working on a plan to procure materials and keep them in our store in the event that we need to quickly respond to issues of non-functional or malfunctioning lights.
You must have noticed that for some time now, some of the traffic lights in the city were not functioning due to the expiration of a major component of the light.
We are currently carrying out maintenance work on them and as you can see, the traffic lights at Airport Road are all functioning now. We intend to extend the same maintenance culture to every other traffic light in the different locations of Benin City.
Let us talk about the economic gains associated with the street light project. How many jobs have been created through the street light project?
The economic gains are numerous. Over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created through the Light-Up Edo project.
From those fabricating the poles to those installing, digging and laying the cables. In fact all the players in the whole value chain; transporters, warehouse services, to the traders that are selling their goods at night, who now make more money to enhance their standard of living.
When the project is fully executed, how many streets in the state will be fully lit?
Some of the streets in Edo South are; Airport Road from Ring Road down to Ogba River, Akenzua Street from Airport Road to Adesogbe, Stadium Road from Akenzua to Ekehuan Road.
Others are; Zabayor from Ekehuan Road to Stadium Road, Adesogbe, Ehaekpen, TV Road down to the popular Five Junction. Siluko Road from Oba Market to Agbor Market; Sapele Road from Ring Road to Country Home Junction. Akpakpava Road from Ring Road to Ramat Park; New Lagos Road from 2nd Junction to Uselu Shell, Uselu-Lagos Road from Uselu Shell to UNIBEN Main Gate.
However, we are also looking at phase 2 of the project. Some roads have been captured and presently, we are making plans for the designs.
We are targeting: Ekehuan Road, down to Ekehuan Barracks, Mission Road to Aduwawa, Ibiwe Street, Lagos Street, Evbiemwen Road, 1st East Circular Road, down to Akpakpava Road Junction, 2nd East Circular Road, Sokponba Road, 3rd East Circular Road, Main Gate to Oluku, Sapele Road to the Benin Bye-pass and several others.
In Edo North we have installed solar lights on the Auchi-Jattu Township Road and the Jattu-Otaru Polytechnic Road. Many more streets will be lit in the coming days across the three senatorial districts of the state.
The street lights when powered at night portray Edo to travelers as a civilized city with lots of developments.
At the completion of the phase 2 of the project, Benin is going to look like a small London. Presently, we are concentrating on major roads after which we would also consider the feeder roads that are unique in nature.
We are currently working on a plan to incorporate landlords’ and landladies’ associations who would put resources together to extend the light to their streets, with EDSG providing incentives to enable them to light-up their areas.
How many of these lights run on solar and how many rely on the Ossiomo Power Plant?
There are no solar street lights installed in Benin City under this project. All the street lights in Benin are conventional lights powered by the independent power project (IPP).
But outside Benin City where we do not have the IPP facility yet, we are installing solar lights.
