IBEDC Reconnects UCH After Three Weeks Of Plunging Into Darkness
Members of staff and patients at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, Oyo State, are in a jubilant mood after the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) reconnected the facility.
The premier hospital was disconnected three weeks ago owing to the non-payment of electricity bill, plunging UCH into darkness.
But on Thursday, the Public Relations Officer of IBEDC Busolami Tunwase told Channels Television that UCH has been reconnected.
She said UCH has paid a little above 10 percent of the outstanding bill it owed IBEDC and made a plan to gradually defray the rest.
The University College Hospital was disconnected on the 19th of March over an unpaid outstanding bill of N495m.
It has since then been in darkness, resulting in hardship for patients and staff of the hospital who had to grapple with working under a lot of stress without power supply.
One of the doctors in the hospital and the chairman of the Association of Resident Doctors (UCH) John Oladapo in a chat with Channels Television said working in in darkness was hard.
“Imagine a nurse looking for a vein to set a line using a torch or phone to do that!” he said.
This prolonged darkness led the workers’ unions in UCH to take a stand on scaling down their work hours.
On Tuesday 3rd April, the coordinator of the Joint Action Committee in UCH Olaadayo Olabampe sent out a circular that night shifts shall be suspended until electricity gets restored and that has been the situation.
He told Channels Television that the workers would continue to work between 8 am to 4 pm until power was restored to the hospital
“This is 3rd week of total blackout in UCH. Normally we don’t have 24-hour light, we back up with alternative sources in most cases. With no light, people are not finding it convenient to work. They can not perform at an optimal level in this kind of condition,” he added.
A lot of compromises came into play as UCH earlier said IBEDC insisted on taking at least N250m as the first installment from the N459m. Both parties appeared to have shifted ground and renegotiated leading to the latest reconnection.
For now, power has been restored after payment of just above ten percent of what is owed by the hospital. IBEDC says a workable plan has been drawn up to defray the rest and hopes UCH will keep its promise to pay the balance.
