The expansion programme of the American sponsored Chabbobboma Banana plantation project in Gwembe district hangs in the balance following reluctance by ZESCO to link the project site with hydro electricity.
World Hope International-Zambia country director Elvan Chilundika disclosed this Saturday during celebrations to mark the first banana harvest at Chabbobboma on the shores of lake Kariba in Gwembe district.
The function was also attended by district commissioner Dorothy Hamvula, chief Chipepo and American donors from Eastern Hills in New York.
Mr Chilundika said World Hope International, the implementing agency for the project, had since the commissioning of the plantation project last year, made several requests to ZESCO for power to be taken to the project site but without any success.
He said officials at the ZESCO office in Monze had always been assuring his organisation that they would visit the area but failed to do so despite World Hope International offering transport for them. He said the site is only a short distance from the main ZESCO power grid.
Mr Chilundika explained that due to the absence of ZESCO power, the organization had been forced to construct a storage and treatment facility for the harvested bananas in Monze, about 100 kilometres away from the production point, thereby increasing operating costs.
The country director explained that the Chabbobboma banana project begun in 2005 in line with government’s efforts to restore dignity and hope to the Gwembe valley people displaced by the construction of the Kariba dam.
Mr Chilundika said the plantation with about 4,000 banana plants is currently facing difficulties of proper irrigation due to eratic supply of diesel to run water pumps in the absence of ZESCO power.
He said this situation has frustrated current efforts to expand the banana project after the release of more funds by the American donors for another four hectares of land to grow 8,000 more banana plants.
“Eastern Hills of America have made additional funds available funds for the construction of a reservoir and other facilities. All these activities are taking place but we will need power,” he said.
He appealed for intervention of the district authorities so that ZESCO electrifies the project which is for the benefit of the people of the Gwembe valley.
Speaking at the same function, chief Chipepo said the banana project would uplift the living standards of the valley people where power has been the biggest challenge.
Chief Chipepo said has for many years now been spending sleepless nights worrying about the deep rooted poverty among his subjects and called upon the American donors to provide more support so that the project is replicated in other areas of the valley district to deal with the poverty challenge.
He told his subjects to turn away from their wicked ways and support the project.
ZANIS/CH/Ends/MM
RB, ZESCO and power outages! Efyo mwalefwaya!
Zambia has a lot of water resources that can be used to generate hydro power. That we are still depending on copper and let alone have insufficient power for our own development speaks volumes about the planning of our leaders. Leaders should be thinking of how to serve the system (Country) and not just planning of how the system (Country) will save them. We need to change our mind set — am sad!
Too bad. Zesco top management needs to replaced
That’s the problem with zambia, we have what we call in lozi as ‘situndameti’… In nyanja ‘kulimbikila’. We’ve focused all our attention on copper that’s why we don’t seem to see the need for supporting other activities until we face problems like copper price decreases then we want to wake up. Grow up zambia! Stop takin the same approach but expectin different results!
Enough is Enough…If Zesco’s current management has failed to reach objectives then they should be failed period…..
This is where you have to prove your leadership skills your excellence president Rupiah Banda. ZESCO is run by dogs, imbwa na michila kumatako. I don’t understand why Zambia should be having power problems because our country is blessed with a plentfull supply of water, sunlight and even coal. Zambia has enough resources to even supply the whole southen africa with bio-fuels. The minister of minerals and energy must be replaced.
when guy scott was agro minister in 2001/2002, there was talk of tapping water from luapula river into the kafue river to increase irrigation capacity in-country. now even on the shores of lake kariba, that member of the family tree, rhodnie sisala does not see the sense of providing power for banana irrigation. the problem with zambians is that those who can provide leadership all want to gather at the high table, lick boots and live off their tongues. the developed world on which we rely for donor funding is facing a serious recession it is not difficult they will not be able to provide us with money even for things we can do on our own. let us use our “fipuma” gentlemen.
Word has it that Ngandu Magande is leaving to join IMF. Is there any further information?
wat eva!
Its now evindent enough that management team at Zesco have failed to embrace our country and failed to do meaningful work to support development projects like this banana thing.
Loading shading everytime among otherthings despite having alot of water in our country.Can RB Pliz fire Rhodnie Sisala and his team they have failed to add meaningful efforts towards development works in our country.
ni ba zesco ni chabe.
Twaba kwati tatwaingilako na muma sukulu. When are we going to change our shallow thinking as a Zambian gvt. That’s why i had thought we needed a leader who can shack us. With alot of water but having problems with electricity. Inkokoko sha bantu just takes posts to benefit themselves and their families.
never mind who eats matoke in zed like ugandans
Now that RB is in chrge, we need to replace family tree (Sisala, Shikapwasha, Shakafuswa, Mbula, Mpombo etc). All these chaps were appointed on grounds of nepotism and patronage, NOT competence for the task at hand!
It’s criminal to have water & electricity scarcity in Zambia when we are endowed with so much water resources! If anything, we should be exporting excess electrical power to neighbouring countries! However, due to incompetent LEADERSHIP across all spheres (from household level to GRZ!), we fail to achieve even the simplest of tasks! Surely, we DESERVE the abject poverty & ignorance we continue to wallow in…?
Amalaiti ka?
#1,hw are u?i missed u.Just your name ako kanono ba nevers,is enough for me.Even before i read your postings.you make me laugh,coz i know what you mean.Brown envelopes, u are so creative. You make my day.
you voted for continuity on the promise so why complain.we thought you were ok in rural areas
Family tree at play..ask zesco employes,thy wil tel u hw much sisala has run dwn ths ting,no meaningful projects to recaptalise,he came frm CEC wich js distributes powa,wat cn he knw abt generation and trasmision..hw many country-wide blakots hav we had,and thts a major security risk 4 a country mind u..wnda why thy fird mwansa..we nid pipo hu ar qualified,nt js coz thy nephews,cousins or wateva u ko them.
i think they failled to use the abandance of water and coal,i hear under continuity there is plenty of uranium may be its time we go nuclear and say bye to frequent black outs dont wait till banana go bad.
WIND ENERGY AND SOLAR ENERGY ARE THE ANSWERS TO ZAMBIA’S ENERGY CRISIS
Why hasn’t RBB gone to RSA for the SADC meeting?
#15 Sheikh Banda mweyamba kuchinja mazina ka!!! When did Shiekh Al Maktom Bin Rashid promote you to that position or maybe you are married to the locals mu U.A.E??? Anyway I like you name very rare pa Zed…
WE HAVE ENOUGH SUNSHINE TO GENERATE THOUSANDS OF MEGA-WATTS OF ELECTRICITY AND EQUALLY ENOUGH SPACE FOR WIND FARMS.
THESE ARE RENEWABLE FORMS OF ENERGY THAT ARE SUSTAINABLE AND ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY TOO
#22 pf die hard..
Mayb u hav heard wat heard yestday as to why RB hasnt gne,..danger ka..
IT WOULD BE DISASTROUS TO GO NUCLEAR ENERGY WHEN WE CANNOT HANDLE OUR FIRE-SAFETY, IN HOMES, CHISOKONE MARKETS ETC.
NUCLEAR ENERGY IS STILL A PIPE-DREAM FOR ZAMBIA. WE HAVE A POOR SAFETY RECORD. WE HAVE NO CAPITAL TO INVEST IN NUCLEAR ENERGY. EVEN THE EXPERTISE IS STILL NOT THERE.
WE PRODUCE COPPER BUT WE CANNOT PROCESS. DO YOU THINK WE CAN GO NUCLEAR?? NEVER, NOT WITH THIS GOVERNMENT, WORSE STILL PF
26# you have made your point as for solar energy we have the sun but we cant make solar pannels atleast we have uranium so the bird at hand is better than two in the bush……….i cant wait to see a nuclear zed.may be u are scared of sanctions but its not our fault that we have the mineral(uranium).zed power
bananas, mangoes, avocado and just about everything we have can be turned to gold mwebantu. we buy kotapela, mango, inkonde from the caribbean and brazil in sainsbury, tesco and asda. zambia could be exporting these things to europe. the only thing i see from zambia in the big supermarkets is mpilipili. we just use these trees for fintelelwe chabe. irrigation can get us out of the mess.
We need changes in the cabinate.
Underdevelopped infrastructure and the general shortage of electricity across the country has been a problem for some time now. It is frustrating that we continue having this problem. Not only is it affecting individual households mostly in high density and peri-urban areas, but also businesses as well. We have so many technical experts, please can someone invest in developing alternative sources of power. Why wait for expensive infrustructure that will take years to construct? Countries in the region like Namibia have research organizations that focus on solar energy. We need to be innovative and find alternative energy sources otherwise we will miss out on local an foreign investment.
The incompetence of Zesco is very worrying.The way zesco operates,leaves much to be desired.Production in has been affected because of Zesco,s eneficience.And thes characters dont seem to care. Sisala and the whole top management,are having heft allowances which they dont even deserve.Sisala and your friends on top,you should go.you have failed to run that very important organisation.Guys do you know that the government get a lot of money from Zesco and Zamtel even for compaigns. So the directors of these 2 organisations,are therefore supposed to be the yes bwana ones.So thats why Sisala is there na ma roots,kwati ni company yakwe. Can you park and go.
Guys a nuclear zed is a bg risk..nt nw,lets improve our safety maybe.solar and wind energy are th alternatives ryt nw,thy are atleast feasible..bt ryt nw,sisala and hs top brass must go.
Nuclear energy is certainly NOT the way to go. We do not have the capacity or experience to undertake such a venture. Such a venture may also make the regional and international community uncomfortable. Let us find other ways of generating power e.g. wind, solar, waste matter etc. In Brazil some of the cars run on ethanol. We can learn so much from others. Why can’t we come up with such technology?
RB must start work ASAP. We want to see action
SISALA AT IT AGAIN.ANYWAY’AS USUAL THE FAMILY TREE WILL DEFEND THE BROTHER.DEVELOPMENT WILL ALWAYS SUFFER.
The man RB has no vision.He just talks of continuity.Continuity on what?on Zesco,s incompetence.This is what people wanted, ala lekeni mumone.Mind you these ministers with their big appetite for money the remaining 3yrs,is their only last chance.So they wont even care but amass welthy for themselves. Mulongoti,Teta, Shikapwasha, Namugala,Shakafuswa and other pretenders.Alat bwafya!
These are the fruits of employing wrong pipo with wrong qualifications for the job. The prob per Zed is mostly relatives are employed despite being under qualified for the job. This is why we need a leaders with a Mission, Goal and Objectives. We dont need leaders that follow the wind… Shame on all of them!!!! Honestly how can they fail to manage the company??
ku zamtel uku nakabobwa. the strike is having a telling effect on the company. lekenifye chichite collapse.
eya kalendele, kano takaliko, kali kumabala, nabanyina kumo!
#33,what do you mean when you talk about waste matter?do you mean that we should generate power from feaces? Even if we should be innovative,iyo yena awe.There are other alternatives not feaces plz.keep that idea to yourself.
#39 to clarify, there is a variety of waste (plant based) that can be recycled into energy. You have to have an open mind. By the way, did you know that in some countries human waste is neutralized and released back in a different form into rivers etc. You sound very close minded.
ZESCO is a big let down to the economy. Where is your RB you elected? How does he expect his nation to prosper with such setbacks? If he were to enter into an economic debate with me, I bet he would run out of answers within 5 minutes!
Handover the country to Sata, we dont need a president who is known internationally for sleeping on duty, shame!
PS. are these bananas for domestic consuption or export? The story does not specify. It baffles my mind why in Germany, for example, one only gets bananas from South America and not from Southern Africa.
Nyama soya please wake up and do something, Did someone say presido is an economist? Ignoring the fact that he failed his own busines. What a let down,absolutely undermining the Education Sysytem. GOD HAVE MERCY!
#41, RB may be a little sleepy but he is ahead of sata and you know it. What he needs to do now is to select a team.
Zesco top management should be repalced.I knoww of people who have been waiting for years to get connected to power despite having paid.RB, your immediate action over ZESCO is one area where your administration can gain support from voters
LT PLEASE TELL ZAMNET TO REMOVE SATA’S FACE ON HOME PAGE. IT IS SCARING!!!!!!!!!!
#40,just come and join PF.u wil find hard workers,action oriented people. People who can change things at Zescn.
RB we want to see action be a man and do something. Don’t just sleep there!!!!! We want to see tangible results
Ala twanaka! If a company fails to function efficiently and provide the appropriate services to the population, then you get rid of management because the buck stops there. How can we have a situation where Zesco is incapable of innovation, provision of services, expansion, etc in an envronment rich with solar, wind and hydro energy? Countries with just a fraction of our resources are able to provide their populace with consistent electricity. What is our excuse?
The power problems in Zambia are not as a result of the lack of potential. ZESCO operates well below its potential because of the lack of investment in new infrastructure. What I find particularly disturbing about this report is the fact that it concerns the Gwembe Valley. The people of this area were displaced many years ago to make way for the power plant at Kariba. It is immoral for ZESCO to ignore the plight of these people. These people should consider the possibility of bringing a class action suit against ZESCO before the courts of law. As far as I know, they were not compensated (as a community) for the hardships they had to endure when they were moved from their natural habitat.
People fail to grasp a simple fact. No matter who you put at ZESCO there will be power shortages. The problem is that we are suffering from poor planning which meant that we did not invest in capacity. That means more power stations. The trouble is that Zambians have a wired way of thinking. The same guys crying about lack of electricity do not want foreign investment to build power stations. Which Zambian can build a power station ? The Kwacha billionares ! It is joke. Zambians think clown like Sata can build the country. Whata joke ! He was defeated and we thank God for that. The loud mouth is eating his words.
#17 ati shani? can we link up and talk about a lot of issues? pa zed pa fibunang’ani. kabili ba nevers baisa bachekelako ku bena RB. there were two envelopes marked “dr mumba” but ba nevy was given iyakwa dr mumba umbi. they then phoned him nd told him that the envelope he was given was small, it was meant for the other dr mumba. i’ve never laughed like i did when i read that.
Ba Sisala nabafilwa i wonder if he is also part of the new RB family tree. The solution at zesco lies in developing the kafue gorge lower (KGL) which has a capacity of 750 mgw. This is far beyond our current deficeit not the itezi tezi they are concetrating on which only has capacity of 120mgw when our deficiet is round about 200mgw. RUBBISH!
ZESCO AND ZAMTEL MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE REPLACED.
PLIZ MR PRESIDENT COME TO THE RESCUE OF THESE TWO COMPANIES.
MWEBANTU KWATENI UMUCHINSHI.COMMENT BUT DONT INSULT.IT DOES NOT PAY NO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
Was this issue raised with RB et al during the campaign. What did they say. In L/Stone they raised the issue of tourist visa fees. RB promised to reduce then and he has done that.
Secondly, wouldn’t we expect Zesco to have committed themselves to supply powewr at design stage? That’s basic planning. You cant start a factory without securing power. The management of the Banana farm need to be questioned too. This smells of bad planning.
If Zesco have failed to deliver what they promised at planning stage, they they should be sued. This will save the farm money in the long run. Just what is the response from Zesco. Do we have a Zesco insider on this blog, or at least someone update.
I have read and digested a number of comments. This issues is not that complex. First things first! A Project Concept factors in a number of elemnts to enure the success of any project in this case the Banana Plantation Project. Before the Americans started this project in 2005 what did they agree with Zesco and at what level was the agreement made was it with Mwanawasa’s Government?? or the Corporate ZESCO Director??? If Zesco has failed to supply power what are the reasons that have been advanced by it. We know Zesco is a failure, it can fail even to put poles in a 1km stretch leading to a Farm! This is a National Project which can easily be taken to the government through another channel