ZACA PROPOSES SOLAR PILOT PROJECT TO ZESCO

By NAMO PHIRI

THE Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) has called on Zesco to introduce a pilot project of offering solar equipment to customers amidst load shedding.

ZACA Executive Secretary Juba Sakala said this will not only help cushion the impact of load shedding on consumers, but also help the power utility company to save on power that was being consumed.

Mr. Sakala advised Zesco to purchase solar equipment which they could sell to interested consumers to be paying on a pay-slow basis.

He said the power utility company could begin from Lusaka and depending on the response, shift to other districts as this would also encourage more people to use solar as an alternative for power supply.

“What the power utility company needs to do is come up with a scheme that people can use to pay slowly. They can simply give a timeframe as to when the money should be paid,” Mr. Sakala said.

He said most people would not hesitate to purchase solar equipment given the power situation in the country.

And Mr Sakala has called on the Government to come up with measures that will help to cushion the effects of the increased load shedding on manufacturers.

He said this was because increased hours of load shedding meant reduced hours of work for the manufacturing industry which would further lead to less production and high prices of goods in a case where manufacturers use power generators.

He said manufacturers were already spending so much to produce goods and that the possibilities of seeing the cost of most products going high were very high.

“What happens is that most of these people have resorted to using generators in order to meet the demands, and with fuel prices being high, it means they are spending more in order to produce,” he said.

He said there was therefore a need for the Government to come in and help lessen the cost of doing business for these manufacturers so that consumers would also benefit.