News / Local
Bulawayo suburbs go five days without electricity
23 May 2012 at 07:22hrs | Views
Some Western suburbs in Bulawayo are still without power, five days after last week's electrical fault at Emagetsini Zesa sub-station in Emakhandeni
The power blackout was a result of an explosion that damaged a tank with oil used to cool circuit breakers at the sub-station on Thursday last week.
The suburbs that were affected are those that depend on the sub-station for power, namely Emakhandeni, Gwabalanda,
Magwegwe North, Luveve, Matshobana, Cowdray Park, Entumbane and parts of Mzilikazi, although power has been restored in some.
The suburbs still without power are Emakhandeni, New Luveve, parts of Old Luveve and Gwabalanda.
In Cowdray Park power had been reportedly restored yesterday while in Entumbane residents said they were living in fear of losing electric gadgets as electricity was constantly being switched off abruptly since it was restored.
Yesterday businesspeople said they were losing business. Some of the residents spoken to yesterday also said they were still without electricity and were now depending on firewood and paraffin, which was costly.
Some said they had lost perishables because of the blackout.
In an interview yesterday, Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira conceded that a number of suburbs were affected contrary to his initial statement that only a part of Emakhandeni was affected.
"We are working hard to restore power to our customers and it is obvious that the explosion affected many other suburbs although Emakhandeni was the most affected.
"In the meantime, as we are fixing the problem, we are transferring other suburbs to other circuits that were not affected so that they can have power. Some circuits were affected after the electrical fault and caused a blackout. It is unfortunate that we cannot restore power to everyone at the same time," said Mr Gwasira.
Most parts of Luveve were still without power yesterday and residents said life was becoming unbearable, as they had to buy firewood everyday.
"We are now using firewood and we cannot afford because four small pieces cost a dollar. Parts of Old Luveve now have power but we are still in dark city. We ended up boiling all our meat because it was going bad," said a resident.
Those from Entumbane said power was restored at the weekend but was constantly being switched off abruptly.
The power blackout was a result of an explosion that damaged a tank with oil used to cool circuit breakers at the sub-station on Thursday last week.
The suburbs that were affected are those that depend on the sub-station for power, namely Emakhandeni, Gwabalanda,
Magwegwe North, Luveve, Matshobana, Cowdray Park, Entumbane and parts of Mzilikazi, although power has been restored in some.
The suburbs still without power are Emakhandeni, New Luveve, parts of Old Luveve and Gwabalanda.
In Cowdray Park power had been reportedly restored yesterday while in Entumbane residents said they were living in fear of losing electric gadgets as electricity was constantly being switched off abruptly since it was restored.
Yesterday businesspeople said they were losing business. Some of the residents spoken to yesterday also said they were still without electricity and were now depending on firewood and paraffin, which was costly.
In an interview yesterday, Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira conceded that a number of suburbs were affected contrary to his initial statement that only a part of Emakhandeni was affected.
"We are working hard to restore power to our customers and it is obvious that the explosion affected many other suburbs although Emakhandeni was the most affected.
"In the meantime, as we are fixing the problem, we are transferring other suburbs to other circuits that were not affected so that they can have power. Some circuits were affected after the electrical fault and caused a blackout. It is unfortunate that we cannot restore power to everyone at the same time," said Mr Gwasira.
Most parts of Luveve were still without power yesterday and residents said life was becoming unbearable, as they had to buy firewood everyday.
"We are now using firewood and we cannot afford because four small pieces cost a dollar. Parts of Old Luveve now have power but we are still in dark city. We ended up boiling all our meat because it was going bad," said a resident.
Those from Entumbane said power was restored at the weekend but was constantly being switched off abruptly.
Source - Byo24News
