GOVERNMENT Says ‘ZESCO Load Shading To Continiue For The NEXT 1 YEAR

GOVERNMENT Says the country’s ZESCO Power load shedding will continue for the next one year.
The government says the power deficit that the country is facing is as a result of lack of sufficient capacity for the power utility company ZESCO to generate power to cater for the growing population.
Lands, energy and water development minister Chris Yaluma has told journalists that lack of forecasting and planning for the growing demand of energy in the past 15 years despite the country having a lot of water sources to generate power is the cause of the power deficit.
Mr. Yaluma notes that load shading may continue for the next one year as the government tries to find alternative ways of increasing the generation capacity of power.
He adds that currently, the government is in the process of developing more hydro-power stations as a way of expanding the generation capacity of energy in the country.
Mr. Yaluma was speaking to journalists in Lusaka Tuesday 12/20.
There has been a wide outcry country wide by what the People have said is unnecessarily and too inconviniencing.
But what Tumfweko does not understand is why government through ZESCO, exports power to neighbouring countries at the expense of suffering and incovinienced Zambian households.

Posted by Editor on December 21, 2011. Filed under LATEST NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

23 Responses to GOVERNMENT Says ‘ZESCO Load Shading To Continiue For The NEXT 1 YEAR

ZimaNdola

December 21, 2011 at 5:22 am

Numbala one lol!!!
kalulete

December 21, 2011 at 7:11 am

wat a management are we in the village? zesco guys wake up nt ifi. Do want you are suppose to do cos some of we stay with Landlord on the same plot so if we doesn’t use power they only come to ask 4 money 4 power pliz help zesco pipo we want to be using our money
thebike

December 21, 2011 at 7:33 am

We hv HE MCS. Dont u say he is The Man of action. He wntd Governance, he got it. Wat is the Govt schedule 4 the year?
Maliseni Banda

December 21, 2011 at 8:01 am

Were we not told some two plus years ago that works where being done at the country’s hydro stations that were to increase electricity output and put an end to the load shedding by the end of the first quarter of 2011? It appears the then government and ZESCO were lying to us. Again Zambians have been taken for a ride. When will it ever end?
nakferd

December 21, 2011 at 8:05 am

zesco is not efficient enough due to unqualified incompetent personel who can not carry out their maintenance duties.more so is under their department of transmission and generation.some staff can not even explain the parameters in the control room where they just sit so that they report faults to technicians and engineers.incompetence has led to poor reports of increasing demand of electrical power in the country therefore poor planning.stop back door recruitment and the chain of services rendered will be ok.try to ask some staff how many mega watts we are generating around the country?clean this branch of government mr sata please.
Poormgnt

December 21, 2011 at 8:07 am

This is why i insist that Zambia is not a poor country. It is poor because it is being managed poorly. There is no way a ‘third world country’ can keep on exporting electricity at the expense of the country itself. There is no development in this case. What we need to do is to terminate or adjust contracts made with importing countries because its the only way to eradicate the disequillibrium. Load-shedding is not acceptable especially where the price of electricity units and bills are high. ZESCO is the largest company in Zambia. To say there was a lack of forecast means they are not planning!
concerned citizen

December 21, 2011 at 8:11 am

Zambia has no direction,we have need leaders that can plan things better in this matter,how can we go another year with loading shading when power is being exported out.Lets cut the export and maintain our well being.
Josephs

December 21, 2011 at 8:52 am

During Sata’s time as opposition leader he critisized those in leadership about load shedding and promised that he will sort it out in 90 days but now his minister extends it to over 1 year. Yaluma should not blame those in government for last 15 years but should just work to solve the problem. Stop exporting power when you can’t satisfy local demands. we are tired of hearing the same blame on MMD by the pf, it is enough now get to work please.
luanshya kaoma crescent kuponano pono panyo pako pono panyo

December 21, 2011 at 9:15 am

But ba zescolo mu fimabolo kwena,bafikala fyenu bamatole last month I bought a fridge and because of your motherfacking load shadn my fridge got dammaged I wanted to store food for xmas now its done and u are sayin it wil go 4 anothr year kwati mulewamya ba fimatole ukufota wen it comes to disconnections mulabila na matole pamaso kikikikikikikikikiki
mpika boy

December 21, 2011 at 9:19 am

Malabishi aya!Kuno ku mushi its worse!mafi yeka yeka!
CHISSY

December 21, 2011 at 9:39 am

one year of load shading is just too much do something quiker before you finish our appliances
Henrique

December 21, 2011 at 10:00 am

What is the impact on national development of load shedding for one year and why should Zambians be advised to brace themselves for this inconvenience?

There must be alternatives to this problem and we have not be told whether they have been explored-

a) importation from SA
b) Peak Load shifting by the major industries, with incentives from ZESCO.

The importation of power will definately come at a colossal cost,but its a better alternative to load shedding.
Tambo

December 21, 2011 at 10:37 am

I know Cypria (MD ZESCO) as a man of action. There is no way he can tell Government lies. Therefore bwana MD we will not be patient for more than one year. While load shedding, please spare our farmers. In fact you need to think of how we can save our farming from total collapse, with your Pre-paid meters. Dont be surprised that farmers stop farming in the dry season. Take this policy matter to His Excellency Micheal Chilufya Sata, our well deserved President! Thank you Tumfweko.
Niche

December 21, 2011 at 12:56 pm

Frankly speaking as a Zambian I find this kind of action by ZESCO to be draconian. One wonders what they have been doing since the last time the late President went on to defend them and ask us to spend colossal amounts of money on energy saving lights. As a peaceful loving Zambians we did, but I guess ZESCO took it that we are a ****** and gullible citizenry cause they just went about paying themselves hefty salaries and allowances at our expenses.

I would like to give Mr. SATA and his cabinet a benfit of doubt but from what i have read today, I think not. It is about time we became a serious nation with the interest of our people at heart. I live in the eastern province, were its is a well known fact that power cuts are the order of the day, if not twice a day then it is three – to four times a day. Only last week we asked the Manager of one ZESCO branch in Mfuwe about the power cuts and he had the gall to report to the entire District Development Coordinating Committee that ZESCO is not carrying out power cuts but just experiencing faults…..NOW CALL ME ****** BUT HW IS IT THAT THE FAULTS OCCUR AT THE SAME TIME EVERY TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. And to try to reduce power consumption they are promoting the use of solar geysers….IN THE VALLEY with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.

ALL WE ASK IS ZESCO IS TO LOOK AT ALTERNATIVES IN POWER GENERATION BESIDES HYDRO…ESPECIALLY NOW THAT WE ARE BEGINNING TO EXPERIENCE THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE; REDUCED RAINFALL, DROUGHTS….. AND DID I MENTION THAT ZESCO EXPORTS POWER TO MALAWI, AND THEY IN TURN EXPORT IT BACK TO ZESCO IN CHAMA AND LUNDAZI DISTRICTS WHO NEVER EXPERINCE LOAD SHEDDING.

NOW THATS ZESCO 4 YOU.
Bornagain

December 21, 2011 at 1:28 pm

The load shedding has become more prominent with the dawn of the new goverment. How did the previous regime manage the crisis? Or is the change of management at Zesco that has caused this?
Emerging bootlicker for Senior Citizen

December 21, 2011 at 2:06 pm

Please the experts on this electricity advice. Is power not used as it is generated and can not be stored to be used later at a particular time? Is load shedding due to increased demand at a particular period of time (peak period) e.g. when families are preparing their meals? I have noticed the so called load shedding usually happens between 18.30 to 21.00 hrs. This is when most families are preparing dinner and watching news. Just asking
koko7

December 21, 2011 at 2:23 pm

Why export power to other countries if they can not handle the pressure locally? It makes no sense at all…its nonsense.How can one decide to feed street kids if his children cry of little or no food at all? c’mon!!!
Watchman over Watchdog-Galileo Galilei is back!

December 21, 2011 at 3:50 pm

This country has a lot of potential. The centralised government is so bad. We sit in DDCC meetings and nothing ever comes out of these brilliant submissions for improving the welfare of Zambians. Please decentralise the governance of this country.

In Luapula we have great potential to generate enough power for our industries and domestic use and extra for export at Lumangwe and Kabwelume on Kalungwishi river. there a many other potential sites in this region. But because we want everything to be decided in Lusaka where things get watered down and glossed over, what development can we talk about? Which ever government comes into power can only do so much to develop this country. I think accelerated development will only come when we decentralise. we should be debating the modalities of decentralisation by now. Issues to do with provincial financing, taxes, etc. We can even go federal. Why are we so fearful and pessimistic? So unsure of our steps and we think someone will give us a magic bullet in our heads to ever think better or wave a magic wand over this nation and suddenly Zambia will become Switzerland of Africa. Nay, bold and well calculated steps need to be taken in order to transform this country. Lusaka administration of this vast country will not us proud. LETS HAVE STRONG REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS.
steven

December 21, 2011 at 4:16 pm

90 days to one year,only God knows where we are going. Where are the planners,do they tell us for one they have failed to come up with a solution? Sata criticized heavily the other governments against loading shedding what has happened. Maybe instead of jailing Rupiah,let Sata learn from him how to run ZESCO.
Umupandapwiti

December 21, 2011 at 5:48 pm

Ba Zesco Pamputi kwati ni Pump ya pamugodi.
tamar

December 21, 2011 at 6:03 pm

I don’t know what this country is turning into,there is no difference between the people living in town and those in the village.The people in the top management at Zesco do not even experience this same load shading because they stay in areas like Kabulonga but a person like who stays in Helen Kaunda i have to experience it almost on a daily basis.The problem is that we let the people in decision making decisions to take advantage of us.Zesco should understand that we pay for the service they offer to us.Before they come up with the so called schedule for load shading they should talk to us the clients.And come to an agreement on how it can be done.How can there be development if power supply can be cut for 4 hours.
Ken

December 21, 2011 at 7:46 pm

Zesco issued a statement that the load shedding was due to low water levels to support generation, now the minister is talking about non availability of generation capacity to mean not enough power stations! “uwawa tabulate kabepesho” contradictions within 90 days!!!! Load shedding only restarted 2 months ago!!! Mupwaya despite being MMD oriented managed Zesco very well!!! The current Zesco MD is far from being capable of managing Zesco trust me!! Give him one year and you will see!!
Jay

December 21, 2011 at 9:35 pm

Electricity as produced by hydropower stations cannot be stored. It can only be distributed. Our peak electricity usage (approx 3 different time periods per day) exceeds our electric production capacity hence non-critical customers (residential) causing fluctuation are turned off. Only way to alleviate this in short run is to import electric power from neighbouring countries connected to our power grid. We only export when our power usage is well below capacity of power generation and distribution grid. Hope this helps everyone?