It's sabotage says government

June 19, 2009
Energy and Water Development Permanent Secretary Peter Mumba says June 18 government suspects recent fires which have burnt Zesco installations were caused by sabotage. The recent fire destroyed a 11 kilowatt Coventry Street power distribution unit in Lusaka reducing it to a shell leaving parts of the city dark.

Mumba said it was worrisome for the fires to occur within a short period of time on the fire equipment and suspected that some people wanted to paralyse Government and Zesco operations.

“I refuse to believe that this fire is an accident but I suspect it’s sabotage. I think there must be someone causing all this damage to the Zesco equipment,” said Mumba when he inspected the destroyed power distribution unit.

The affected areas included the entire industrial area, part of the city centre, Villa Elizabetha residential area, Emmasdale Township and parts of Great North Road. The cause of the fire has not yet been established but the damage caused was estimated at US$500,000.

Mumba, who was accompanied by Zesco senior management officials, said the gutted unit was the nerve centre for the entire industrial area and asked law enforcement agencies to institute an investigation to establish the cause of the fire. He said it would take about two days to work on the damaged machines and restore normal power supply to the affected areas.

Mumba regretted the inconvenience caused considering that not long ago, there was another blackout caused by the gutting of a transformer at Lusaka’s Leopards Hill power station. Zesco engineers said some customers were switched to other lines but expected increased load-shedding to avoid overloading the system.

Meanwhile, Zesco director of customer services Teddy Mwale has said intentions by
his company to increase tariffs to 66 per cent are aimed at making the energy sector grow and enable it to provide quality service delivery.

Speaking on June 18 in Kitwe during the Energy Regulation Board public hearing on Zesco’s intention to increase tariffs to 66 per cent, Mwale said his company had no intention of exploiting the consumers but wanted to improve service delivery.

“The low tariffs by Zesco made it possible for the privatisation of the mining sector. The low tariffs also made it possible for the country to attract investment. This is why we want to nurture the investment in the country through the provision of quality services, but we can’t provide quality services without enough funds.

“This is why we want to increase tariffs to 66 per cent. We do not derive joy in just hammering our customers with tariffs. We want the power sector to grow and support economic development,” Mwale said. (Times of Zambia)