(JONGLEI STATE, BOR COUNTY) – The town of Bor has been without electricity for nearly a week following the shutdown of its main power station for scheduled maintenance, leaving residents, businesses and public services struggling to adapt.
The blackout which began on Monday has now entered its sixth day. Many residents and business owners say they were not given enough notice about the outage, creating widespread disruption.
One of those affected is Peter Kajobe, who runs a printing and computer service centre in Bor. He said the lack of power has had a devastating impact on his work.
“My entire business depends on electricity,” he explained. “Computers need constant power, and we have been forced to use alternatives, which are very costly.”
Kajobe said the timing of the outage has been especially difficult as schools are in urgent need of exam materials. “We have large printers that require strong power. We’ve lost a lot, and clients who depend on our services are left stranded,” he added.
He criticised the sudden and unpredictable nature of the shutdown.
“To make matters worse, we were not told the power would be cut. It goes off and comes back without notice. This is a major setback for me and many other small business owners.”
Resident Peter Ajak Ayom also described the frustration of living without electricity.
“Businesses that need constant power are suffering, and homes connected to the grid are left in the dark,” he said. “Even streetlights are off, which makes the town less safe at night.”
Those selling cold drinks, phone charging services and computer based businesses have been particularly hard hit, with many reporting losses.
Bor power station manager, Dhieu Kuol, confirmed that the shutdown was necessary due to overdue servicing of the generators.
“We had to turn off the machines for their first maintenance in more than nine months,” he explained. “Engineers from Sudan are carrying out the work, and we had informed the public that operations would stop temporarily.”
Kuol said electricity supply is expected to resume by next Monday, which would mean a full week without power.
Despite the assurances, many residents remain unhappy. Some have called for better planning to avoid complete shutdowns.
“When one generator is under maintenance, the other should remain running,” said Ajak. “We need a reliable system that does not bring the whole town to a standstill.”
