The Sunday News
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
RESIDENTS of Garikai/ Hlalani Kuhle area in Beitbridge Town have appealed to the Government to force the country’s power utility, Zesa to connect their properties to electricity.
The residents are accusing Zesa of dragging its feet on electrifying the area, adding that the entity has been delivering poles to the area on the pretext they would connect, only to recollect them and use them elsewhere.
A representative of the more than 150 residents, Mr Goodwill Mukweremba said the area has been without electricity for over a decade. He said at some point residents volunteered labour to dig holes to erect poles, but that effort has come to naught.
“We have a problem of electricity here and Zesa has not given us a satisfactory answer. We have tried to engage them but they keep giving us excuses. It is sad to note that houses built after ours have been connected and we keep getting stories.
“To make matters worse, they have been delivering poles here and recollecting them without any explanation. We are now appealing to the Government to attend to our plight.”
Beitbridge East Member of Parliament, Cde Albert Nguluvhe said he had engaged the Ministers of Energy and Power Development and that of Local Government and Public Works over the issue. The town falls under Beitbridge East constituency.
“I have since engaged the relevant ministries to address challenges in this area following my visit to the area to ascertain the nature of problems,” he said.
Zesa’s Western Region general manager Engineer Lovemore Chinaka said the company needs at least US$200 000 to fix electricity problems in the affected area.
“A lot of money is being spent replacing stolen lines and transformers, leaving very little for development of the network to new areas. Concerning the movement of poles, you will note that when our delivery truck failed to negotiate its way into our Stores area at Beitbridge depot, the poles were then delivered to a safer site at the Garikai stands. The poles were not meant for the Garikai project alone, but would also be used for other sites in the area (PWD houses, Zimta and Redevelopment houses) as required for maintenance and new works. So some of the poles movements are to the other areas,” he said.
