By PATRICK ABANG, Calabar –
Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade on Tuesday said the Piles and Pylon factory established by his administration is set to begin commercial roll out of vibrated electric poles.
Ayade said the factory will play a pivotal role in the rural electrification of the state.
The governor stated this during a tour to the factory which is situated at Akamkpa Local Government Area of the state.
He disclosed that the State Electrification Agency (SEA) was already collaborating with relevant stakeholders to ensure full take off of commercial production at the factory.
According to the governor, “this factory will produce all the poles and provide all the solar lighting panels that will support rural electrification programme.
“And we intend to advance it beyond rural lighting and urban lighting to get solar farms where we can generate sufficient power. We will use all our monopoles to provide transmission of power from the solar farms to the city.”
Accordingly, “program will be a rapid action program and it is intended to deliver power to rural areas and semi urban area.
“So against this background, the State Electrification Agency is collaborating with third parties to guarantee full take off and production of the piles and pylon in this factory here in Akamkpa Local Government Area.”
Governor Ayade regreted that the factory was heavily vandalised during the EndSARS protest, even as he disclosed that most of the vandalised machineries have been ordered.
Speaking earlier while conducting the governor round the complex, interim Director-General of the State Electrification Agency, Mr. Eric Akpo disclosed that products from the factory will hit the market once certification from the relevant regulatory agency was obtained.
“The Piles and pylon factory is very functional; we are preparing to hit the market with our poles.The only thing holding us back is that poles deployed for power reticulation have to be certified by the Nigeria Electricity Management and Services Agency (NEMSA).
“So we are expecting the NEMSA team to visit the factory in the coming weeks. Once they come, they will give us the needed certification because we have already met their specifications,” Akpo said.
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