Kham's central market has already been connected to the network and the remainder of the town will receive electricity supply by the end of next month, said an official from the Xieng Khuang provincial branch of Electricite du Laos, Mr Visien Sisamak.
“Connection to the electricity grid ensures residents will be able to use electricity at all times of the day and night. So, we are very pleased to deliver electricity to the people here,” he said.
At present, locals source power from a small hydropower station but the electricity generated is not sufficient to meet families' needs.
Because the dam used by the power station is so small, it cannot create sufficient energy for everyday use. In fact, it takes a whole day to build up and release the energy required for households' nightly use,” Mr Visien said.
“People only have electricity from 7 to 11 pm,” he said.
Some people have installed generators in their homes to ensure they can have electricity throughout the day, but they cannot use this power for cooking purposes. Generators are easy to obtain in local markets, but the increasing price of fuel means they are becoming expensive to run.
Kham district consists of 120 villages, but not all of them will be connected to the electricity grid. Only people living in the largest urban centres will have access to the network, Mr Visien said.
According to Electricite du Laos, the government is in the process of expanding the national electricity grid into the rural areas, where about 80 percent of the population lives. At present 43 percent of people living in rural areas have access to electricity.
By Vientiane Times
(Latest Update May 27, 2008)
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