Power grid infrastructure 'meets' New Rural standards: 3 years of worries not over

(Baonghean.vn) - Recognized by the Government as meeting new rural standards in early May 2016, all technical infrastructure in Thai Hoa town should have met the standards. Unfortunately, the low voltage power grid infrastructure of this locality still has many shortcomings, not only the people but also the town government complained: 3 years, not yet relieved of one worry...

People complain

The story about the weak low voltage grid infrastructure in Thai Hoa town came to us from some voters in Nghia Tien commune. These voters said that they had complained many times, complained to many places, to many levels but saw no change, so they had to ask the newspaper to help them.

“You guys just go to Nghia Tien and see for yourself. There are many crooked electric poles, makeshift electric poles made of bamboo and wood; some power lines don’t even have poles, they have to be hung on garden trees and fences…” – a voter reflected.

Because the pole was broken by the storm, the power line in hamlet 5, Nghia Tien commune "reigned" on the fence.

Nghia Tien Commune is located along National Highway 48, about 5km from Thai Hoa Town center towards Quy Hop District. Areas with weak low voltage power systems are hamlets 4, 5 and 7.

The rows of concrete pillars that are several decades old are crooked, interspersed with skinny bamboo and wooden pillars, causing the power lines to hang down, constantly swaying and shaking; those are the power lines lying on concrete fences, bush hedges, on coconut and mango tree trunks... or hanging down into the garden; those are the electric meters hidden in the bushes...

According to the residents of hamlets 4 and 5, the electricity system in Nghia Tien commune was built by contributions from the people. About five or seven years ago, the power lines were handed over to the electricity sector for management. In 2011, a major storm had a negative impact on the entire power system; in many areas, electric poles were knocked down and broken but were not repaired or replaced by the electricity sector. The most serious problem was in hamlet 5, where about 6 consecutive electric poles were broken beyond repair.

Therefore, the people of Hamlet 5 had to hang electric wires on the fence, patching up the electrical leaks to use temporarily. “We have been using it temporarily until now. It has been almost 4 years,” said one resident.

In hamlet 5, visiting Mr. Dang Viet Ba's house, a family with about 60m of fence used to support power lines, Mr. Ba kept complaining, because he and the people of Nghia Tien had made many requests but "the electricity industry did not listen".

Taking us to check the electrical lines, pointing out the places where connections had to be made, the places where garden trees had to be used to prop them up, Mr. Dang Viet Ba said: “I absolutely forbid children in the house from going out to the garden to pick fruit. If they go out to play in the garden, something will happen and we will regret it. The rainy and stormy season is coming again, if it continues like this, it will be very dangerous…”.

Hearing that the press was coming to Nghia Tien to learn about the low voltage grid system, Mr. Tran Dinh Thai, a commune official, also came and said that one of the main reasons was because "this is the area of ​​Thai Hoa town but the power line is managed by Nghia Dan Electricity...".

The exposed power line in Doc Cao block, Quang Tien ward has weak poles and temporary poles hanging close to the ground.

One of the areas we visited after leaving Nghia Tien was Doc Cao block, Quang Tien ward. Here, there were also broken poles that people had to replace with makeshift bamboo and wooden poles. Not only that, there were also exposed electric lines…

In this area, residents like Mr. Cao Thanh Nam and Nguyen Van Quyet said: "Doc Cao residents have replaced temporary poles three times, but the electricity industry has not shown any signs. They only see that every month, someone working for the electricity industry comes to collect money..."

2 months, 3 times text release

An official from the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Thai Hoa Town said, “The town has done its best but has not been able to resolve the issue. Over the past 3 years, there have been many correspondences with the electricity sector. From March to May 2016 alone, the town has sent 3 documents to all levels of the sector and the Electricity Company…”

3 Official dispatches of Thai Hoa Town People's Committee sent to all levels of sectors and Nghe An Electricity Company.

See the content of Official Dispatch No. 180/UBND-KT sent to the Department of Industry and Trade on March 23, 2016, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee stated: "The low-voltage grid system of Thai Hoa Town has been handed over to Thai Hoa Electricity and Nghia Dan Electricity to manage and sell to households. However, the low-voltage grid in many places has not been upgraded or renovated by these two units; the system of wooden poles, temporary electric wires hanging on fences, and broken poles pose a risk to the safety of people's lives and property". And emphasized: "Regarding this issue, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee has repeatedly requested Nghia Dan Electricity to fix it, but after 3 years, this unit still maintains the same situation".

To ensure the safety of local people, in Official Dispatch 180, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee requested the Department of Industry and Trade to: "Direct Nghe An Electricity Company to request Thai Hoa and Nghia Dan Electricity to replace broken poles and wooden poles and send staff to monitor incidents occurring at the following units: Hamlet 4, 5, Nghia Tien Commune; Con Vang Block, Quang Phong Ward Forestry Processing Block; Doc Cao Block, Quang Tien Ward, Dong Thinh Hamlet, Dong Du 2, Dong Xuan, Dong Son, Dong My, Dong Hieu Commune..."; "request Nghia Dan Electricity to hand over the power grid system in the town to Thai Hoa Town Electricity for management".

In Official Dispatch 243/UBND-KT dated April 5, 2016 sent to the Provincial People's Committee, Department of Industry and Trade and Nghe An Electricity Company, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee detailed statistics on the damaged power line system, including: "Quang Tien ward has 50 damaged power poles; Quang Phong ward has 24 damaged power poles, Long Son ward has 60 damaged power poles, Nghia Tien commune has 77 damaged power poles, Nghia Hoa commune has 7 damaged power poles, Tay Hieu commune has 7 damaged power poles; Nghia Thuan and Dong Hieu communes have 322 power poles with a 19,520 meter long low voltage line of poor quality and weak electricity".

Regarding Official Dispatch No. 516/UBND-KT on “Risk of unsafe rural low-voltage power grid” sent to Nghe An Electricity Company on May 17, 2016, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee stated: “On April 5, 2016, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee issued Document No. 243/UBND-KT, proposing to upgrade the rural low-voltage power grid at units that pose a risk of causing unsafety to the people. However, up to now, Nghia Dan Power Company has not yet resolved the issue. To ensure the safety and lives of the people in the upcoming storm season, Thai Hoa Town People's Committee respectfully requests Nghia Dan District Power Company to immediately replace fallen poles, temporary bamboo and wooden poles, and electric wires hanging on fences…”.

Officials of Thai Hoa Town and Nghia Tien Commune inspected the low voltage power grid system.

Mr. Le Sam - Deputy Head of the Economic - Infrastructure Department of Thai Hoa Town shared: "The rainy and stormy season is coming. If the low-voltage power grid system in some areas of the town is not upgraded and repaired by the electricity sector, we are afraid that it will affect the safety of people's lives and property...".

A reality in our province is that when the rural low voltage grid was handed over to the electricity sector for management, it had degraded a lot. And not only in Thai Hoa town, there are many localities where the rural low voltage grid infrastructure is degraded and unsafe but has not been repaired or remedied. The reason is basically due to funding issues. However, as in Thai Hoa town, it is also the lack of responsibility of the electricity sector, especially Nghia Dan District Electricity.

Nhat Lan