The National Union of Textile, Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, has pleaded with the federal government to intervene in the disconnection of electricity supply to textile industries in the north by the Kano Electricity Distribution Company, KEDCO.
According to the union, the disconnection resulting from unresolved billing issues, is threatening to force the factories to shutdown.
Recall that the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, had increased tariff for Band A customers by 300 per cent, whch has generated a lot of controversies, many customers, individuals and corporates, complaining about the debilitating effects the hike in tariff would have on them.
The union in a letter addressed to the Minister of Industries, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite by the General Secretary, Ali Baba, said: “The factories affected include; Funtua Textiles Limited, Katsina State; Nigeria Spinners and Dyers NSD, Kano; Kano Hoborn Nigeria Limited, Kano; ABC Polymer Kano; and Jay Kay Group, Kano, among others, with a combined work force of over 5000 workers currently out of work due to the disconnection of electricity to their factories.
”Some of these factories have been temporarily closed since May and are considering complete shutdown of operations, if electricity is not restored in the next few weeks as they cannot solely operate on generators.
“These factories had raised alarm over the recent hike in electricity tariff by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, from an average monthly bill of N30 million to an outrageous N100 million per month for a small textile industry struggling to survive.
”Many textile industries in Nigeria and the North-West in particular have closed down due to unfavourable business environment, including unstable power supply.”
