WE’VE SILENTLY INCREASED POWER SUPPLY TO 10 HRS, WE WANT CITIZENS TO TELL US – GOVT

WE’VE SILENTLY INCREASED POWER SUPPLY TO 10 HRS, WE WANT CITIZENS TO TELL US – GOVT

ENERGY Minister Makozo Chikote says government has increased power supply, with some areas now receiving up to 10 hours of electricity.

Chikote says there has been no official communication from government on this increase because it wants citizens to see the results for themselves.

Speaking to News Diggers, Tuesday, Chikote said the electricity situation had changed significantly.

He explained that areas which were previously receiving two or three hours of supply had moved to seven hours, and selected compounds that had been getting six hours were now allocated 10 hours.

“When we were hit by the drought, our [water] levels went down and it affected power generation, hence the power deficit. And this government did not just sit [idle], we decided to think of alternative sources of energy to enhance our energy mix. Last time, I released a number of projects that are in the pipeline to respond to our power deficit. That’s the first thing I did, to make sure that each project has all the details. We know how many megawatts each project will bring on board. There are those in the medium term, those coming by the close of this year, [and] those coming in the first, second and third quarters of next year. That’s how we have done it because we have both immediate and long-term projects in our pipeline,” he said.

“And also, in the immediate [term] there are other measures that we have put in place such as imports and these are already responding to the situation. You have been receiving two hours, one hour, others go a day without power, other compounds were getting three hours. As I am talking to you today, that’s not the situation. The situation has changed. At least those who had been getting two hours, three hours, they have moved to seven hours. The vulnerable citizens such as Kanyama, Matero, those compounds which we selected which we communicated to you, media, you know they dropped to something like six hours, five hours. They have bounced back to 10 hours, so slowly results are coming out.”

Asked why there was no official communication on the increased power supply, Chikote said government had done enough talking and now wanted citizens to report on how much power they were receiving.

“Sometimes, you must weigh the situation. You know how much we have talked to the people, trying to give them confidence. Trying to explain what government is doing. This time around we have decided to say instead of continuing to repeat the same statements, we should leave the results to start speaking. As I was entering here, I was stopped just there. I was being given the feedback, some platforms were even making jokes to say, ‘the one who switches off power, maybe he went to drink.’ So that is the kind of information we would like to come from the society. We have done enough talking, people are now waiting to see results. That’s what we are now doing hence we have not made any announcements. What we want this time around is the results. Let the people now talk, what are they receiving? What are they getting? How is the situation of power supply in the country? We want results to come from the people other than us to keep on repeating the same things,” he said.

“People have heard this message so many times, all people now want is the results. That’s the more reason we decided to explain the projects that are in the pipeline to make sure that come next year when the results are coming, people will say it’s because of elections but these are the projects that are moving according to the government’s plan. Because next year, especially you Diggers, will claim that the situation has changed because of elections. We have to explain and see what is the timeframe of these projects that are in the pipeline, to clear what the noisemakers are making. We have so many noisemakers in this country, that is why we are very conscious in giving our statement to make sure that we don’t contradict anything.”

Asked if the increased power supply was due to favourable rainfall patterns, Chikote denied this, explaining that the improvement was a result of government’s interventions, including the importation of power.

“Look, this rainfall we are experiencing now is not just there, then it starts raising the levels. It’s a process, especially if we talk about Kariba. If the rains are coming all the way from Zambezi to come and reach where Kariba is, it takes some good three or four months for that water to arrive at Kariba Dam. So, it is not about this rainfall, it is about the interventions that we have put in place. One of the interventions is the imports that we are bringing into the country. Secondly, also by engaging the private sector, those who are in power trade to see how they can also come on board and provide whatever they are trading in terms of the power supply. These are the results you are seeing,” said Chikote.

“I want to assure the citizens that this government has not gone to sleep like how other people are criticising that the government doesn’t care. They don’t mind with the lives of the people, there is nothing that they are doing towards power deficit or load shedding, that is not correct. The assurance I am giving our citizens is that your government is working 24/7 to make sure that we improve, we stabilise the power supply.”

News Diggers