The load shedding being experienced in Zimbabwe will soon be a thing of the past, as ZETDC promises improved supply by June, the power utility company’s Marketing Executive Lot Maziriri has said.
The country has been experiencing increased levels of load shedding due to the suspension of electricity generation at its main hydro plant at Kariba, because of water shortages.
But speaking at the Consumer Education and Awareness Outreach Program on safe use of energy products in Dzivaresekwa today, Maziriri assured the nation that by June, there will be an improvement in the supply of electricity. He said:
If we add 300 megawatts to the 1200 megawatts currently available, we will have 1500. Then, the problem will be less.
If we add 300 more, there will be surplus. This surplus will be coming before June. So the electricity problem is going to be fixed soon. It’s just a phase, which will pass soon.
There was a time when we were asking ourselves how come we were no longer experiencing power cuts, we will have that scenario again. We are fixing the problem.
Maziriri admitted that electricity being paid in local currency affects the purchasing of equipment from outside Zimbabwe, saying ZETDC even took a US dollar loan to buy vehicles. He said:
ZETDC took a loan to purchase vehicles from outside the country. We are not able to purchase electricity from outside due to lack of foreign currency.
But in a few weeks, supply will definitely improve, just give us a few weeks.