Editor,

RE: "Persistent power outage damages our property, say consumers” (The New Times, October 7).

I think REG (Rwanda Energy Group) needs to understand that Rwandans are much less interested in what is causing these repetitive and all too frequent power outages and surges; they want to know what the utility company is doing to solve the problem and when they can expect it to be solved for good.

In the meantime, our lawmakers should make it easier for aggrieved consumers to obtain compensation for damaged equipment and loss of business.

To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, "If REG executives know they themselves will bear the cost for repetitive failure to provide acceptable levels of service and thus to avoid destroying their clients’ equipment, it will concentrate their minds wonderfully!”

How can our industry compete and so contribute to a more positive trade balance when it also has to labour under the burden of unreliable power?

Mwene Kalinda