Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Independent and Democratic Cape Verdean Union (UCID-opposition) today expressed concern about the process of splitting Electra and the creation of the National Operator of the Cape Verde Electricity System without considering the impacts it could bring in the future.
António Monteiro spoke in a political declaration during the second parliamentary session in May, in which he warned of the risks of a “hasty decision” to restructure the company for its privatization in the future, stressing that it is “important” to consider the “experience” that is being living in terms of water in the City of Praia.
The deputy warned that care must be taken so that the company is not taking unnecessary risks that could in the future jeopardize the supply of electricity and water, elements, he highlighted, that are fundamental to the well-being of the population.
For the UCID, the creation of institutions to manage water and energy resources could increase the amount paid in the country, adding that in Cape Verde the installed power is 0.11 gigawatt (GW).
“Right away we would like to draw the Government’s attention to the creation of the company that will operate and transport the energy called ONSEC. From the UCID’s point of view, this company will have an additional cost and the work it will do could also be done by Eletra SA itself, which will eliminate the additional cost and remove the price from the company’s own tariff structure”, he pointed out, referring that in Portugal other mechanisms were used to reduce the value of energy.
António Monteiro said that the party is not looking favorably on the fact that in just 14 days a decision was taken at a General Assembly to implement the split process on June 1st, warning of the “profound impacts” it could have in the future, especially on the issue of water production and distribution.
As he explained, energy losses in distribution are 24% of production, and of this, 77% of the loss is on the island of Santiago, a “very high” number for a network the size of the country.
“We understand that instead of having this precipitation, the conditions should be created to combat these losses, having the network properly formatted so that the end consumer can pay the cost of electricity and cubic meter of water at a more attractive price” he highlighted, questioning whether the Government will be putting in place the necessary infrastructure for operations on other islands.
Regarding the possibility of moving the headquarters of Electra SA from Mindelo to Cidade da Praia, the UCID took a stance against the transparency of the headquarters of newly created companies, clarifying that the city is already strongly conditioned by the “clustering” of all activities.
“We have to dispense with and remove the headquarters from São Vicente to be implemented here in the City of Praia. We believe that this does not help and goes against what has been the rhetoric and dialogue that the Government has maintained that it is necessary to decentralize”.
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