Our property in Dueñas has a small house on it, and electricity of a sort. There is no proper connection at the transformer, rather there is a jury-rigged power line, held up on some flimsy bamboo poles, that actually terminates at a neighbors house, and is connected/disconnected there. This worked okay for the previous owners, as the neighbor is a relative of theirs.
So we need to remedy this, and get a proper, and safe, connection to the grid, and our own power bill. Of course, this is the Philippines*, so it’s not a simple matter of going online and ordering service from the power company. Inday has so far spent two half days at two different offices of ILECO, the electric utility that serves our area. We’re nowhere near done with the process, but she has gotten far enough that we have had the master electrician for the utility come to the property to do his site survey and to give us a breakdown of what needs to be done and the cost in order to get hooked up. As part of this we have to install two poles to carry the wire from where it will hook in to the existing power lines, to the house.
To my surprise, the electric utility doesn’t just sell you these poles and charge you for installation. That would be far too easy. Instead the master electrician gave us a list of materials to purchase, and we had to hire a welder to construct the poles from these materials, and a laborer to dig the holes and set the poles. So this past Saturday we set off to the local hardware store to purchase two 20-foot poles, some rebar to be used to construct the foothold for climbing the poles, a couple of insulators to be welded at the top of the poles, and concrete and sand for setting the poles.
There was no way I was going to try to transport these 20-foot poles and rebar in our truck with a 4 1/2 foot bed, so I asked if they could be delivered. In response Inday walked outside and flagged down a passing tricycle driver and asked if he would deliver them to Sawe for us. The driver and the hardware store staff loaded the materials through the middle of the side car, tied everything down securely, and off we went.
In the afternoon the welder and his helper came by and got to work. They cut and bent the rebar as needed, and built the two poles. Meanwhile the neighbor we hired had dug the holes for the two poles, and my father-in-law cut some bamboo poles to use to brace the poles and hold them in place while the concrete sets.
Once everything was ready everyone set off to set the poles. Cement and sand were mixed on a cleared spot on the road, water was added, the poles were set and braced upright, and concrete was shoveled into the hole. A simple form was made from a piece of metal roofing for the part of the concrete that is required to extend above ground level, and the last of the concrete was shoveled in and leveled.
All in, materials, transportation, and labor, the two poles cost us about $100 USD. But we’re not done yet! There are several more steps to be accomplished before they will actually come out, string the line, and hook us up to the grid. Bureaucracy is a beautiful thing!
*This is becoming an oft-repeated refrain accompanying life here. When I ask silly questions like why we have to do all the work when we’re paying for some service to be provided to us, Inday replies with some version of “Sweetie, it’s the Philippines!”