Limasawa Island appeals for immediate power restoration

Nearly three weeks after the onslaught of Typhoon Odette, the island town of Limasawa in Southern Leyte has sought the assistance of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and electric cooperatives to help restore their power supply.

Mayor Melchor Petracorta said since December 16, their town has heavily relied on generators for power due to the very slow restoration works by the Southern Leyte Electric Cooperative (Soleco).

“Our diesel power plant is intact, but it is still non-operational due to toppled electric posts. We are a small town and it won’t take long to restore our power supply,” Petracorta said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

He said it is understandable that they would not be prioritized by Soleco as many distribution lines in the mainland of Southern Leyte have been damaged.

“We are happy that Soleco has already deployed a team here, but they need more people to fix our toppled posts,” he added.

Petracorta said a few days after the typhoon, he requested NEA to deploy personnel to Limasawa to help in the restoration works, but they have yet to receive a response as of January 4.

Limasawa Island is being powered by the National Power Corp.’s Diesel Power Plant, which has implemented round-the-clock operations since October 2017.

The power plant has a 700-kilowatt-hour dependable capacity to meet the island’s demand.

The power plant also runs a water pump needed to bring clean water to more than 6,000 island residents.

Earlier, NEA, through its Task Force Kapatid, requested electric cooperatives with normal operations to help areas affected by the typhoon.

All non-affected electric cooperatives from Leyte and Samar province have sent their teams to Southern Leyte. However, restoration activities are concentrated in the mainland.

Limasawa Island is about 18 km. away from the mainland. One must take a boat ride to get to the island from a port in Padre Burgos town.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Recent Posts

Advertisement