The Southern Regional Electricity Distributor (SORED), which will be responsible for electricity supply distribution in the ||Kharas and Hardap regions, is set to become fully operational in March this year.
The Electricity Control Board's representative, Tonateni Amakutuwa, announced this during a consultative meeting with the regions' political and regional leadership at Keetmanshoop.
Amakutuwa revealed SORED's shareholders and asset transfer agreement is still awaiting approval from the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development (MURD).
Once this is completed, the government will allocate N$90-million over 3 years as start-up capital to the regional electricity distributor.
Local authorities in the regions that transferred their electricity infrastructure to SORED serve as shareholders.
"We are very confident that the SORED implementation will go ahead. We will also continue with quarterly briefings to the minister on the establishments of the remaining REDS,"Amakutuwa.
Some Local Authorities sought clarity on how their participation in SORED would benefit them.
Concerns were also raised how huge debts Local Authorities owed NamPower would be addressed. .
"What cost are we saving, the issue now is electricity debts associated with the regional electricity distributor which operates on economies of scale, and at what cost?," asked Councillor for Keetmanshoop Municipality,Easter Isaack.
Elaine Isaack is a Councillor at the Gibeon Village Council
"I see the projection that with the Gibeon, we are 2,7 percent . I want to know what type of mechanism tools have you used to come with that?"
" Assets versus having, put together, leave you with a standard value of the value of the assets that are going become your contribution share," clarified Interim CEO of SORED, August Kahimunu.
The concerns were addressed by Amakutuwa.
"The creation of REDS, what is being solved is essentially the outcomes and the objectives that I have also presented. Those objectives are ensuring if you a larger Local Authorises that have access to resources in relation to small Local Authorities that cannot access these resources. That also speak to efficiency"
||Kharas Governor Dawid Gertze also addressed the political leadership.
"We cannot expect SORED to abruptly solve problems that we have been dealing with for ages , which is aided by our own doing in some instances. It is probable for us to engage in a conversation that will bring resolve to challenges that we are sitting with. Hence I am saying this was not a platform for political grandstanding."