Kabompo district in North western province has been plunged into darkness following the breakdown of the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) thermal power plant.
The thermal power plant was shut down due to a breakdown of the only generator at the plant, causing a total electricity blackout in Kabompo town and Manyinga township.
Kabompo acting District Commissioner, Felix Ngoma confirmed the development to
ZANIS in Kabompo today.
Mr. Ngoma said Kabompo district and Manyinga mission hospitals were the worst hit by the electricity blackout forcing doctors and nurses to work under difficulty conditions.
The health institutions are using small generators to attend to emergency cases only.
A survey by ZANIS this morning also revealed that some government offices and business houses has since resorted to using small generators while institutions that did not have generators have their operations paralyzed.
Two concerned residents spoken to, George Munyingu and David Kapwepwe appealed to government to urgently send two new generators to the district in order to address the constant blackouts.
The machine broke down yesterday in the morning and efforts to get a comment from ZESCO district manager failed by press time.
A ZANIS crew could not be allowed entry into the ZESCO premises by security guards manning the plant.
ZANIS/MK/KSH/ENDS
Nummer eins :d
numba 2
They should try solar energy.
ZESCO NEEDS TO PULL UP ITS SOCKS. SO MANY PROBLEMS AT ANY GIVEN TIME. TOO MANY EXUSES, DROUGHT, FLOODS, REHABILITATION WORKS, ETC. LYONSE THEY HAVE EXCUSES FOR POOR SERVICE DELIVERY. LETS HOPE 2009 WILL BE BETTER. *-:)
service providers like zesco should be made to compensate affected pipo so they get aliitle serious.tey owe the pipo an apology and explanation of why they have a blackout and how long it will last. That iems why SATA made them pay for the food stuff that went bad in his freezer years back..he is the only zambian who knew he had the right to drag zesco to court for interaption of power without notice..
Its high time we started contemplating about building nucleur power stations like our friends in the west have done. The only problem is we lack brains and ambition to implement such a bold step. I am a nucleur physicist and can be hired for the right price to help set up Zambia’s first nucleur powered station.
Zesco is a company without leadership, Every electric grid should have a backup plan, The hospital too has some blame to take we should also ask the ministry of health what is their plan B in a crisis, it looks like they have none look what happened at UTH children died when they lost electricity.The money which has been wasted Mr.Chiluba buying shoes and suits and they money these ministers waste in cell phones from the past 5 yrs can put commercial generators or wind energy mills in all the hospitals in Zambia. Zambia is not poor but mismanaged ~X(~X(~X(
#6 I think we have enaf brains the problem is the political leaders have misplaced priorities in terms of financing. what we need is the leadership with the right agenda for the country and the pipo. we can actually develop very fast we have brains/human resources.finances are there but are used to the discretion of the politicians benefit.. UNFORTUNATE but true,if we wanted to achieve anything as a nation we can i have faith that we can
suppergal are you drank or weeded,your grammar is wack, And pls learn to comment only when it is necessary.
Nine chale – i like your comments
Happy new year and God bless.
#5 sorry ,forgive my rudeness though i was just trying to be your frenemy.
After reading the comments on #5 and 8 you wonder wheather its the original Suppergal blogging. Read through your comments before you post them unless you are drunk.
Solar power is something we should all be embracing at the moment. Nine Chale #3, you ask if they have tried solar. What if they have and it has not sustained them well enough?
Solar/inverter technology is being researched intensively. Solar has not been very effective when it comes to running rotary(motors) and high wattage(stove elements) equipment which unfortunately are the bulk of the load pa Zed.
There have been several installations of solar equipment in rural Zambia but most times its been just to run the telly or a ka small bunch of security lights…
[-(
#6 Correction: we do not lack brains we lack motivationa and resources…
Solar energy is definately the way to go, since Zambia is located in the tropics and therefore we have a high ray density.. the only problem is nivodula ivi vintu guys…..
Kabompo plunges into darkness???? ASK PETAUKE RESIDENTS IN EASTERN PROVINCE….
This is not news to them.. :o:o:o:o:-j:-j:-j:-j:-j8->8->8->8->8->
Why didn’t zesco have a standby generator? too many excuses
No problem. No minister lives in Kabompo so no worries! :d
#6. You are positively, right. But, a year or two ago, the same issue was brought forward. Surprisingly, enough some chaps just slapped the whole idea down, saying “Zambia (or was it Africa) does not need nuclear power”. Honestly, I laughed. More than ever before, Zambia, or any seriously thinking African Govt needs to implement a policy for the construction of a nuclear power plant (station). Zambia has abundant uranium. Last year Kaputa was another place announced to be having uranium. Are we just going to be selling to other countries? And for how llong is Zambia going to continue with these power outages? And which industrialist is going to be encouraged to invest where there isn’t..
…contineuous power? These are some of the ventures the govt must be undertaking. They have the economies of scale. Better still, they can borrow from the world bank, imf, or other countries with the money. Copiuos power alone would guarantee the creation of value adding industries, (in metals and wood, etc). I totally, agree with you #6.
#6, #20 Muleikalafye.
If your country has no capacity to service even substations would they handle nuclear plants?
Stop deluding yourselves. They are very expensive projects which can not be run by a country getting poorer each day like yours. Even gas is a big risk in Zambia so shut it you boys!
This is incompetence of the worst order. When the person running Zesco maintenance learn about one and one function generator? And we have continued paying him even when he was courting a disaster for a nation with telling. He must be fired! Let me know his name and I will ensure that he not only fired but also prosecuted for negligence. We need to be serious.
secretary: boss the zesco bill is here
sauzande:file it
Nuclear power is not the way to go,It is expensive also do not forget what about the nuclear waste, The way forward for Zambia is solar and wind energy. SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY PERIOD.
We have simply failed to manage this country period. Zambia is too big for the kind of Government that we have. Zambia is Lusaka and Lusaka is Zambia. If you are in Katete, Kabompo, Kaputa etc then just know that you are doomed.
1)We need to go for a federal state.
2)We need to stop building houses for former presidents.
3)We need to put our house (Zambia) in order.
#26 you are my man, God bless you and happy New year too!
#22 3RqU,
We are not deluding ourselves. Look at the advantages!
Nucleur power costs about the same as coal, so its not expensive to make and is very reliable although a lot of money has to be spent on safety. I think its only when you try to enrich Uranium to weapons grade does it get overly expensive. However, i do agree with you when it comes to maintenance and safety in Zambia. You cannot afford to have a Nucleur Station when you are not prepared to invest in the safe operation of the plant because a Radiactive fallout would be catastrophic, e.g Chernobyl.