Infotextblast


Friday, February 15, 2013

Do not fly kites near power lines To help ensure brownout-free polls


By Rachelle M. Nessia

CEBU CITY, Feb. 14 (PIA) -- A power distribution utility in Cebu is appealing to students and residents in their coverage areas to avoid flying kites near electric lines. 

"This is one way how the public can help us ensure that there will be stable power supply during the Election Day," said Theresa Sederiosa, communications manager of Visayan Electric Company (VECO). 

Based on VECO's records, most power outages that occur in their area are caused by kites getting entangled in power lines. 

"Because a favorite summer activity here is kite-flying, we want to remind the schools, students, and barangay residents to practice safe kite-flying," said Sederiosa. 

Kites should only be flown in areas far from electrical lines or in open spaces, she said. 

The May 2013 polls, which will be the second automated elections in the country, falls within the summer period. 

Sederiosa said VECO personnel will be visiting the barangays and schools in their coverage areas from February to end of March this year to educate their consumers as part of their safety consciousness campaign. 

Sederiosa and Engr. Lowell Belcina, resident manager of Cebu Electric Cooperatives (Cebeco) Cebu City office, both urged power consumers here to be vigilant in reporting power-related incidents during election period. 

"We cannot totally guard our electric lines all the time so please report to our office if there are trees that fell or about to fall on our lines in your areas, so we can address them before the election period," said Belcina. 

VECO electric consumers can report power-related emergencies through landline 2308326, or text ASKVECO_OUTAGE and send to 2327 for Globe/TM, 3918326 for Smart/TalkNText/Red Mobile, and 09178902327 for Sun Cellular or thru Twitter @VECO_Cebu or their official Facebook page. (RMN-PIA-7 Cebu)