An 11 KV ZESCO power distribution switch board in Lusaka has been gutted.
The fire, which started between 10:00 hours and 11:00 hours on Thursday burnt equipment in the distribution centre, leaving parts of the industrial area and town centre without power supply.
The incident comes barely two days after one of ZESCO’s main substations on Leopards Hill road caught fire.
A ZNBC news crew which went to the power station, situated along Mumbwa road, found that the fire brigade had managed to put off the fire.
ZESCO limited acting managing director, Musonda Chibulu, said the company is already putting temporary measures in place to restore power supply.
On Monday night the whole nation was plundged into darkness after a 330 KV transformer at the ZESCO Leopards Hill Sub station caught fire.
Earlier, ZESCO Limited announced that it had managed to restore normal power supply to all parts of the country.
ZESCO Senior Manager Marketing and Public Relations, Lucy Zimba, however said load shedding in Lusaka will remain pronounced.
On Monday night, the country plunged into total darkness after a Zesco transformer exploded in Lusaka.
The 330 KV transformer is situated at ZESCO Leopards Hill Sub station.
[ZNBC]
Is this a coincidence that one transformer should burn barely a few days after another one did so.mmmmm,there could be some one doing sabotage here?Lets guard our national assets jealously.I mean this will bring our nation backwards,Ku Bweza(ni) Ziko Kumbuyo.
uko!
this is unacceptable!!!! ZESCO be serious. We cannot take excuses. Why increase your tarifs in Kitwe by %60 yet you CAN NOT increase your produce power yet along be able to produce or maintain your current producing power? Employ more abled engineers to to forsee your own shotcomings. THIS PATHETIC!! Your at prompt to hike your tarifs in Kitwe by %60, yet you can not increase your engineering power to forsee circumstances like this, JUST LIKE RB PROMPT TO RE-APPOINT DORA YET HE CAN NOT EVEN ADDRESS TEACHERS PLIGHT IN THIS COUNTRY!!!
Too bad such incidences have to follow each other in such a short time span.
INCOMPETENCY
So chabe, so chabe! Twachula mwe.
Equipment failure is caused by age or lack of maintenance. We cant be having a situation. The Zesco Board including Department of energy should find a lasting solution to this whole problem. We cant be having one transformer blowing after another. I believe Zesco had invested heavily in its human resources and has a cadre of competent technicians and engineers to raise to the occassion. Mr. Chibulu and team what is going on. When Peter Mumba says he suspects sabotage. Doeas it mean perceived sabotaours are they using hightech weapons or not. If its physical the installtions are guarded 24hrs around the clock. I think the whole problems points to lack of preventive maintanance coupled with old equipment. Zesco management should come out clean on this serious issue. Politics day in day out.
The transformers we are using is the same bought by our colonial masters. It needs to be replaced and this the time.
But yeeee…!!
this makes me feel for the country people…
has ZESCO even ever been expanded since Independence
or are we still operating at the same capacity as 20yrs ago..??
Everything in Zesco has remained the same only their salariies have been changing. They rake quiet hearvily in terms of their salaries and this makes it difikot for them to put any attention on mauntenance.
HH on an early election bid goes arson on Zesco assets.
Ba Zesco, You must mantain the power distribution switch boards , then we will not be having all these problems. Anything that has been used for too long must be looked after,
Do they have watch men to look after these Boards, just in case some vandors are up to it .
Every equipment haz a life-span, relative to the use, maintainance and service. Am confident our very learned ZESCO colleaguez could not overlook this. And the suspicion of sabotage just adds a more worrying dimention to the whole issue. In all our axionz, let us put Zambia first.
Again I maintain my call…solution is entire management change for Zesco and not replacement by promotions within Zesco bring in fresh people. Security at these distribution points should be paramount to avoid any arson, and maintenance of equipment. Abash Zesco management abash! Abash the appointing authorities abash!
buying ma go’nga…there’s too much cuts in deals since 1991,its all about nichekeleko thats why they are buying everyhting from china,poor and low quality equipment from china will kill us..abash china!
Sisala was fired
the machines are maintained by chinese
hicilema wants early exams oh elections
many top officials have cases to answer in court en to zambians
some one tenders to be extended to them you hear them soon offering services for free
some MMD are fighting are fighting Rupiah
so we are all dancing to the Music
Iye..everything is going wrong..it must be DORA and THANDI fighting near power stations. The bible is right..a nation without a vision PERISHES..its happening, we need an intelligent God fearing leader like yesterday otherwise Zambia will be a thing of the past..it will be a village with a few rich farms owned by all the corrupt people while the rest fade away in misery. No Electricity, no teachers, no nurses, no doctors, no hospitals, no internet, no mealie meal NO NOTHING !!!!
Thats what you get when you buy chinese technology.
Awe tavutika mwandi. NO power from 10 ‘clock yesteday. With cold season our homes are so cold you wouldnt want to move around the house. Naku munshi kwawama mwe pantu thats the lifestyle.
While companies here are bracing themselves for a new era of solar energy using the African sun by constructing a huge solar station in the Sahara desert to cater for at least 15% of Germany’s electrcity supply, we are still lagging miles behind.
When will Africans ever seize the opportunity to do what needs to be done without foreign aid? Lord have mercy!
Lets just start using ama koloboyi mwe. Pantu this is getting out of hand. At this rate, the entire ZESCO will burn now!
Zambia needs to overhauled in every area.
We don’t have to blame to blame ba Zesco,one of the Directors made it clear on Sabc News that the Govt does not support them so what do you expect when the govt does not help them to maintain their machines,but they only help them by getting money to rig election from zesco.
lol… hi Matworld, Nine Chale, Ba Moze…again, i think we should declare our country a village and stop saying we have a president…RB is the chief..totaly ignorant and doesnt care what happens beyond his chieftenship
THESE TRANSFORMERS-IS IT NOT MAINLY COPPER WIRES THE ARE MADE OF? CAN’T ZESCO ENGINEERS DESIGN AND MASS PRODUCE THEM (including stoves)? The same thing applies to telecoms of Zambia. Couldn’t they have design and produced a basic lamia? If this had been the case, ZAmbia by now would have perfected these products to produce very sophiscated transformers, phones, stove, etc. What is the meaning of engineering/or engineer? Are they not a step or so beyond scientists? Doesn’t it mean you can design or at least reproduce what has already been designed? At school we used to make these transformers-so zesco engineers can do better.
Miss Daisy. i couldn’t agree with you more on that score. Ba Matworld, muli shani? Ubuchushi bwachilamo pa ZED mudala.
$ 25 Peter, Zambians can not even make a spoon.
#9. ZESCO, has ever been a cash cow, in the same way zsi and other para companies have been. Under such a circumstance a company can never expand. Kaunda with his 1 party dictatorship really ‘raped’ these companies. And the money just used on state house bashes, (and this is the background where RB is coming from). ZESCO, expanding would have meant annexing power from all Zambia’s water falls, research and diversifying into other forms of energy such as solar (which is endless in Zambia), wind, bio, etc. Even making their own transformers whose raw materials are entirely produced in Zambia. ZESCO, would have adopted the Electrical (and Electronics) Schools at both CBU and UNZA.
#9. ZESCO, has ever been a cash cow, in the same way zsi and other para companies have been. Under such a circumstance a company can never expand. Kaunda with his 1 party dictatorship really ‘r.a.p.e.d’ these companies. And the money just used on state house bashes, (and this is the background where RB is coming from). ZESCO, expanding would have meant annexing power from all Zambia’s water falls, research and diversifying into other forms of energy such as solar (which is endless in Zambia), wind, bio, etc. Even making their own transformers whose raw materials are entirely produced in Zambia. ZESCO, would have adopted the Electrical (and Electronics) Schools at both CBU and UNZA.
Sweet D.
Iam okay,Ba RB nabampesha mwadi,I think we Bembas made a mistake for giving chance to these dull mbuyas of us.RB has failed to rule bakakafye.
Big Moze Iam cool big mudala.
It’s not sabotage imwe. This is lack of maintenance. How do you say sobotage caused the weeds that choked the turbines a few weeks ago? Someone miraculously grew the weeds overnight? too much only dealing with issues when they become emergencies. There is lack of expenditure on preventive maintenance. salaries make up 50% of operating expenses. this leaves little resouces for capital and maintenance expenditure.
Adopting such Engineering schools would have enabled industrial-driven up-to-date learning and therefore, more research into necessary appropriate science and technology that should see further improvements in the power generation and supply technology.
Tooo tooo tooo, another one bites the dust. Tooo tooo tooo, another one bites the dust. And another one bites and another one bites, another one bites the dust. Hey can you hear that bang? Another one bites the dust… Oooooooooh.
#30, Splaka. Thats why Zambia can never develop. Does one need an Engineering Degree to know that it wasn’t sabotage, but sheer ware and tear of the machines, poor mis-management of the company, neglegency, etc? One can leave Zambia and stay abroad for 20 years, come back and still find the same ZECO if not worse. The only thing that have changed with ZESCO is the logo. In fact from a beautifully designed logo to something worse than s.h.i.t. The logo itself is a scandal. I don’t know if a director just gave the job to his grade 5 child to do the job. I am pretty sure most pipo would agree with me that the previous logo was highly professional and markatable.
On the other hand, lets not rule out arson and suppose that it was actually subbotage. Then ZESCO, has another thing coming. This may mean pipo are just sick and tired of high tarrifs which are increased every now and then and there4 they have decided to do anything possible that makes it impossible to manage ZESCO. If this is the case then the all thing may spread to all towns of Zambia. It will be like another chachacha, but against ZESCO. These would be bad for the entire country and I would suggest everything possible is done to tremendously improve ZESCO’s operations in order to supply the service to more than enough. To those pipo might be committing arson, stop it and think of the long term effects of your actions. Lack of power can paralyse the entire nation.
Commenting on the new Zesco Logo the old one was much better. Just to remind you look at the log for Bank of Zambia it is something that is kokayi to understand. I am made to believe that it was copied by some chap from a small South African company. There are so amny things gone wrong, next will be Zamtel to change its logo. GRZ from time of independence has nevr encouraged local manufacturing initiatives. 45 yrs to date we cant even make a biycle or needle apart from Maheu. Zesco has no capacity to make transformers the size of 330kv Those things are made according to order in France, China, India, Turkey. We will have to wait for not less than 12 months for Leopards Hill Sub Station. Imagine Tanzania through ABB plant can make small ones not here. Ni deals day in day out. Zesco is dead
NAIZANDA PA ZED, Bakapokola balebesalila mu ma cellu kuli bakabolala, no nurses, no teachers, amalaiti yaliya, ubunga quater salary ya kwa teacher, Ba president ba lilwala inkufi and he cant talk but so quick to answer to the call of Dora…..yaba what are we ging to do? Its only REVOLUTION 2011 THAT CAN SAVE US.
haha now everyone is headbutting the chinese…
i dont think i have ever heard of a power cut in CHINA…
If you have sufficient transformers all made in china or where ever else they are made from
am i am sure the load sharing can be handled better leading to no power cuts and everyone is happy..
uko,wapya munzi
Zesco, please maintenance is the secret. Don’t think all these facilities will maintain themselves while your bosses are busy dishing out money to RB’s galavanting.
build another hydro electric dam in northern or luapula provinces. thats what must be done. ask hu jin tao to help by tell yangts ziang to do the job. fi cement uku fula!
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