High electricity consumer projects in Garissa have been asked to liaise with Kenya Power to have their supplies upgraded.
KP county business manager Mohamed Shalle said on Monday that the company had noted that some of the institutions had installed equipment that consumes a lot of power whereas the original transformers were meant for the current infrastructure.
Shalle cited Garissa Referral Hospital whose power consumption has shot up recently because of the new equipment in the MRI unit, ICU, the new theatre and upcoming cancer centre.
This, he said, was the main reason why the hospital has been experiencing frequent power outages.
“The hospital will require an independent line from our Raya sub-station because they cannot share the transformer next to them with other customers,” he said.
He added, “If they had informed us in advance and may be included the same in their plans, this problem could not have been experienced.”
Garissa University has also started experiencing the same problem because of the huge infrastructural expansion at the institution.
The power intended for Garissa Teachers' College is inadequate for a university, the KP official said.
The power was meant for about 400 students but currently, the university has over 500 students.
Shalle said with the upcoming 992-student hostel, the power consumption will definitely go up.
He was reacting to complaints of power outages at the referral hospital that has adversely affected service delivery.
Three weeks ago, National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale, who is also the area MP, made an impromptu visit to the power sub-station following complaints of power outages in the evenings. The problem started immediately Muslims started fasting.
The management absolved the company of any blame and blamed the problem on increased power consumption that they did not anticipate.
The problem has since been resolved after an additional transformer was installed.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)
