PNG Power has warned the general public that it would use the police to track down people vandalising and stealing cables and torching wood poles throughout the country.
PNG Power chief executive officer Patrick Mara issued the warning in a statement yesterday following the loss of over K2.5 million worth of cable drums of conductors.
Mr Mara said the cable drums were stolen by villagers living in and around Banz in Western Highlands province.
He said the cable drums were stored in the Farmset yard in Banz when a 132KV transmission line was cancelled.
According to Mr Mara, the 105 cable drums which cost the company more than K3 million, were stolen by villagers and sold to metal dealers.
Police have arrested 20 villagers who are now locked up at Banz and Minj.
Five of these people have been let out while the other 25 are still in jail.
Meanwhile, electricity consumers in the Highlands and Momase regions feeding off from PNG Power’s hydro station in Yonki will continue to experience regular power blackout.
Mr Mara said the blackout is due to an emergency breakdown on one of the machines at the Ramu hydro power station.
He said load shedding is currently being carried out in the Highlands region and parts of Morobe and Madang provinces.
“The load shedding is being carried out on an hourly basis to maximise supply to all our customers,” Mr Mara said.
He encouraged customers in Morobe, Madang and the five Highland centres with stand-by generators to use them until the machine is fixed and full power is restored.
The equipment broke down early this week which resulted in the load shedding and frequent power blackouts in the regions.
The problem is affecting small business operations which heavily rely on electricity supplied by PNG Power.
According to Mr Mara, the company’s system controllers and engineers are working around the clock to rectify the problem at the Ramu power plant.