Keetmanshoop residents left in the dark

KEETMANSHOOP, 29 MAY  – The town of Keetmanshoop and surrounding villages were left in darkness for almost five hours after a massive power outage Monday night.

The //Kharas Region capital and villages such as Koës, Aroab, Tses and Naute Dam residents were affected, with many relaying that they had to go to bed hungry.

The electricity went off around 17h00 at these places and NamPower only managed to restore the supply around 22h00.

NamPower Managing Director, Simon Haulofu told Nampa on Tuesday the power outage was caused by an electrical conductor connecting the lines between Koës and Aroab, which broke and fell on the line supplying power to Keetmanshoop.

“For safety reasons, we had to switch off all lines supplying electricity to Keetmanshoop and the surrounding villages, so that our workers could fix the broken line. They cannot work on a live line; it is very dangerous as lives can be lost,” Haulofu said.

Nampa understands that students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology wrote their examinations on Monday using candles after the power failure.

Shops such as Legit, Markham and Exact in Keetmanshoop had to open late on Tuesday because of systems that were interrupted, while First National Bank ATMs around town were out of service.

When approached for comment on how the incident affected the Keetmanshoop State Hospital, acting //Kharas Health Director, Dr Refanus Kooper said “fortunately, the generator kicked in shortly after the failure”.
NAMPA