GOVT WINS KUDOS FOR MANAGING POWER CRISIS

By Kalobwe Bwalya

THE Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) has commended the Government for taking practical steps towards mitigating long hours of load shedding saying this will go a long way in re-sparking economic activity in the economy.

The Government has directed Zesco to reclaim 100 Megawatts from the export market to bolster local electricity supply and negotiations are ongoing to recall an additional 195 Megawatts considering contractual obligations and the severe drought impacting the region.

The Government is also mobilizing resources, in collaboration with the private sector, to open a second plant at Maamba Collieries, expected to produce around 300 Megawatts and the project has reached the final stages of financial closure.

Further, Ndola Energy will soon re-join the grid, contributing 105 Megawatts and the Government plans to install solar energy systems in public universities and colleges to free up energy for other uses and has directed that public institutions such as universities, hospitals, and water processing plants, along with essential service providers like police stations, will not be subject to load-shedding.

Speaking to The Scoop, (ZACA) Chief Executive Director Juba Sakala said the pragmatic and practical steps being taken by the Government in addressing the power crisis in the country were commendable.

Mr. Sakala said the decisions that have been made were long overdue and that an additional injection of more power on the national grid would go a long way in reviving economic activities in the country and further trigger economic growth as energy was key in fostering economic growth.

He noted that in the last six months, businesses in the country were running at 50 percent of productivity and that the consumers had lost products at household level due to the prolonged hours of load shedding.

He said he hoped that these measures would immediately be implemented so that the economy could get back on track.

“Zesco should try to load shed residential areas during the day and restore power at night. If manufacturing companies are given electricity during the day, most of them can produce at maximum output and then give residential areas power in the night because what has been observed has been a spike in criminal activities in townships at night when there is no power. There has been so much theft due to long hours of load shedding and thieves have since taken advantage as consumers who have also lost a lot of property,” Mr. Sakala observed.

And Mr. Sakala has also urged the Government to give incentives to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) as opposed to restricting such to bigger companies such as the mines to enable them weave through the economic hardships precipitated by the power crisis.

He observed that even during this time of power challenges, more attention was given to mining companies while the local SMEs were overlooked and that this put them at a disadvantage as most of them had been forced to close down their businesses because they could not cope.

“Smaller loans should also be given to small scale businesses so that they can procure solar equipment. This must not only remain a pronouncement but must be actualised so that we can have the industry running and the economy getting back on track,” he said.