Mining & Trade News

Business operators and residents of Milepa Trading Centre in Chiradzulu have expressed concern over a prolonged power outage in the area saying it is choking their businesses and creating insecurity in the area.

The area has had no electricity power since early November, a situation they allege has caused many to deplete their business capital and gains, as well as acute damage of household fresh supplies.

“Just imagine, some of us in the business of barbershops and showing videos have been relying on petrol and diesel generators; but considering the high cost of fuel, this is unsustainable. We are forced to do so because we have families to take care of, food to buy and wages to pay; this is unfair, ESCOM has choked our businesses and is killing us slowly, as our capital is gone and livelihood is threatened,” said Frank Matimati, who operates several barbershops, video showing business and a video burning outfit.

He further complained that he uses 7-Litres of fuel per day which is contributing to losses considering a litre of petrol cost costs around K2, 500.

“ESCOM is not being human as we have had no power from November to date, they have to find a solution,” he complained.

Chair for Milepa Business Operators, who is also a prominent maize mills’ operator in the area, Mc Brazio Mandawala, also extremely lamented over the delay by ESCOM to fix the problem caused by a scorched transformer, which he said has left the active trading centre in the dark, even during the peak business times of Christmas and New Year.

“It is worrisome that our confidence in the State electricity company is being taken for granted by some officials within the system. Just imagine, they brought us a small transformer, without the right specifications of our power demand here, and it burnt few hours after it was installed – now we do not know what they are thinking about us,” he said.

Mandawala, who is also Group Village Head Likhotho of the area, feels it would be fair for ESCOM to convene a meeting with the locals and business captains of the area, to explain what the company is doing about it.

He said: “People have lost their capital because of this problem, and that means they have lost their sore livelihood source. So, when we say that the ESCOM officials’ acts are inhuman, you should understand,” he said, stressing that the people of the area, along with members of the business community, are planning a massive demonstration against the power supply company, to showcase their bitterness.

“We soon intend to walk all the way to the District Council Offices, many kilometres away, then all the way to ESCOM offices in Blantyre, to express our bitterness. It is sad that some duty bearers do not have a human heart, they enjoy the suffering of others,” he said.

However, in an interview on Wednesday ESCOM’s Spokesperson Kitty Chingota said the company is aware of the problem and working hard to procure transformers that suits the specification of power supply in Milepa and other numerous places with the same problem.

“We are indeed aware of the Milepa problem, and we are very sympathetic of their problem. We ordered transformers of the right specifications, and are awaiting delivery so that we erect in such places – by the way, there are many other places that needs such transformers, but we are doing everything possible that our customers be serviced appropriately,” she said.

Chingota explained that the problem mostly is that such transformers are imported and they are not normally found readily available on suppliers’ counters, hence their manufacturing comes in after the orders are placed.

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