News / National
Mangoma lied on electricity says Cabora Bassa
16 Mar 2012 at 04:47hrs | Views
Mozambique's Cabora Bassa dam denied cutting power to Zimbabwe over unpaid bills totalling around $75 million and has labelled Zimbabwe Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma a lair and has misinformed everyone on the issue.
"We would like to inform you that we have not cut electricity to Zimbabwe. That information is misinformed," Rosaque Guale, a board member of the state-owned Cahora Bassa Hydropower Company told AFP.
Mangoma had earlier told AFP that Hydro Cahora Bassa switched off supplies to Zimbabwe on Thursday or Friday last week over the money owed which is around $75 million or $76 million.
Last month, Mangoma warned a parliamentary committee that Zimbabwe risked being cut off if it failed to settle its debt with Hydro.
He said ZESA had accumulated almost a billion dollars in unpaid electricity imports, unserviced loans and outstanding contributions to a joint power project with neighbouring Zambia.
The firm also plans to introduce pre-paid meters to improve its revenue collection.
Last year ZESA announced it would hand out more than 5.5 million power-saving fluorescent light bulbs to households across the country to curb consumption.
"We are now switching off defaulters as part of efforts to raise the money," Mangoma said.
Cahora Bassa dam supplies nearly a fifth of the power it produces to Zimbabwe, said this was not the case.
The dam produces 2 075 megawatts of energy a year. South Africa buys 65%, while Zimbabwe gets a 19% share.
"We would like to inform you that we have not cut electricity to Zimbabwe. That information is misinformed," Rosaque Guale, a board member of the state-owned Cahora Bassa Hydropower Company told AFP.
Mangoma had earlier told AFP that Hydro Cahora Bassa switched off supplies to Zimbabwe on Thursday or Friday last week over the money owed which is around $75 million or $76 million.
Last month, Mangoma warned a parliamentary committee that Zimbabwe risked being cut off if it failed to settle its debt with Hydro.
He said ZESA had accumulated almost a billion dollars in unpaid electricity imports, unserviced loans and outstanding contributions to a joint power project with neighbouring Zambia.
The firm also plans to introduce pre-paid meters to improve its revenue collection.
Last year ZESA announced it would hand out more than 5.5 million power-saving fluorescent light bulbs to households across the country to curb consumption.
"We are now switching off defaulters as part of efforts to raise the money," Mangoma said.
Cahora Bassa dam supplies nearly a fifth of the power it produces to Zimbabwe, said this was not the case.
The dam produces 2 075 megawatts of energy a year. South Africa buys 65%, while Zimbabwe gets a 19% share.
Source - Byo24News
