In its efforts to provide quality service delivery for customers, the Benin Electricity Distributed Company (BEDC) has embarked on N6bn massive metering for its customers in Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti States.

According to Ceoafrica, the Head, BEDC, Delta State, Mr Ernest Edgar told journalists today in Asaba after the BEDC customers’ public forum, that in spite of the challenges faced by the needed service delivery, many of the BEDC customers’ have not been paying their bills and warned against all forms of “illegal deals” with some corrupt BEDC staff, which might affect defaulting customers.

The BEDC boss lamented the high rate of theft allegedly carried out at BEDC equipment by vandals who added, had made it very difficult for BEDC to perform maximally.

His words: “I also want to emphasis on this issue of vandalisation and violence, the level of violence and vandalization in Delta State is on the increase, this year 2017 alone, I know that three people have been jailed for vandalizing BEDC transformers” and urged customers to always pay all their outstanding debts on shortage of power supply.

Mr Edgar explained that many factors which include gas pipeline vandalism and theft of BEDC equipment had been major problems responsible for the shortage, adding that the Nigerian Electricity Commission (NEC) had directed all distribution companies in the country to stop collecting money from customers who want to buy meter as henceforth maters will be given to customers free of charge.

He said that the distribution of the meters that will be the responsibility of the BEDC had started as meters will be distributed to all its customers within three to four years, adding that machinery have been put in place to ensure that government ministries and agencies who owe BEDC pay up their debts to ensure a smooth running of the company.

In another development, the Delta State government has said that it will do everything humanly possible to ensure that victims of fire and other natural disasters in the state are provided with assistance to pick up their lives again.

The Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Hon. Chika Ossai gave the assurance when he led a team of officials of State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to inspect the fire disaster in Amukpe Market and Chude Girls’ Modern School in Sapele.

Hon. Ossai, who expressed joy to the inferno, sympathized with the victims and assured them of government assistance. He described the fire disaster at Chude Girls’ Modern School as a high magnitude one, as no pin was saved from the inferno and commended good Deltans, who have been donating writing materials and clothes to the students of the school.

The commissioner said that from October 2016 till date, his office has continued to receive distress calls on a daily basis about fire outbreaks across the state and appealed to residents of the state to be conscious of fire outbreak.

Hon. Ossai charged members of the public to endervour to have fire services numbers, so as to be able to reach fire fighters on time in case of any fire outbreak in their neighbourhood.

In her response, the Principal of Chude Girls’ Modern School, Sapele, Mrs Adeline Ominibohs traced the cause of the fire to power surge and thanked God that all the 94 students in the hostel came out unhurt and commended the state Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa for his prompt response.