The business community in Matuu, Yatta Sub-County, has raised concern over frequent power blackouts in the area.
Speaking during a meeting in Matuu Town on Monday, the business owners, led by Matuu Chamber of Commerce Chairman Judas Ndawa, said they would petition the top management of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KLPC) over the issue.
The traders said they have been incurring huge loses running into millions of shillings due to the constant power cuts, which have forced many of them to turn to fuel-generated power, which is expensive.
The business owners faulted the company for failure to provide the much needed service as per the terms of agreement.
They said it was ironical for the town to suffer frequent power cuts, and yet Masinga Dam, which is one of the country’s major hydro-electric power sources, is located just a few kilometers from the town.
“We are giving Kenya Power 14 days to address this perennial problem of unexplained power outages within Matuu, failure to which we shall be forced to take firm legal action against the company for breach of contract,” said Mr Ndawa.
He said the local chamber of commerce had exhausted all diplomatic options of addressing the problem but no tangible results had been realised.
“We have come to a point where we can not take it anymore, and that is why we are now invoking the top management of Kenya Power in order to have the matter resolved,” he added.
Representatives of three local commercial banks who attended the meeting also expressed disappointment over the power outages, which they said had forced them to run their systems on diesel power generators.
“This issue has become so grave that our operations could soon grind to a halt if something is not done urgently. We call upon the concerned parties to act fast and save thousands of people whose livelihoods are interrelated with this town,” said one of the bankers.