The Sunday News
Mesabe Ncube
THE Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has defended its pre-paid meter-system in farming areas saying this had given the farmers the opportunity to manage consumption and budget for their operations.
Farmers have been complaining over the issue of power bills, both metered and pre-paid, saying the charges were too high to sustain farming operations.
In an e-mailed response to questions, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority Holdings, spokesman Mr Fullard Gwasira said the prepaid meters which will be installed on points that are up to 50kV would create a win-win situation for both the power utility and the farmers.
ZETDC is a subsidiary of Zesa Holdings.
“Prepaid meters will also minimise costs for us as there would be no need for production of bills, meter reading, disconnections and reconnections of electricity,” said Mr Gwasira adding that farmers could make payment plans to clear their outstanding bills while those who were not on prepaid meters should also strive to clear their bills in order for the win-win situation with the utility to work.
He said a stop-order scheme was arranged for tobacco farmers to manage their accounts.
Farmers benefited from a July (2013) Government reprieve which compelled Zesa to slash debt owed by farmers resulting in the bill coming down to $38 million from $72 million.
However, a year later the debt has almost doubled to $72 million raising concern that most farmers were not paying their bills.
Mr Gwasira said farmers’ failure to settle debts was crippling service and product delivery, culminating in load shedding.
“The debt has negatively impacted on service delivery as we are facing challenges to adequately pay for power imports and coal inputs for thermal power stations. We are also facing constraints of network maintenance.”
Mr Gwasira added that ZETDC would continue working closely with farmers in a true spirit of constructive engagement to ensure that all their challenges in line with business of the power utility were given due attention and resolved.
“As a responsive and responsible corporate citizen, ZETDC appreciates the need for security of food supply, the intention being to ease the financial burden on the farmers through reduction of their bills,” he said.
ZESA has been struggling to effectively supply power to the country owing to generation constraints.
However, Government has initiated a number of projects meant to improve generating capacity.
Government has indicated that it will engage Zesa to see how farmers could be assisted on the issue of power bills.
“The ZESA tariffs are too high for the farmers and we are going to engage the relevant authorities to solve the issue,” said the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development responsible for cropping Cde Davis Marapira.
