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dam-l Zimbabwe and solar/LS
>From the PANA web site:
More Zimbabweans Opt For Solar Power
November 16, 1998
HARARE, Zimbabwe (PANA) - The Global Environmental Facility said Monday a
total of 12,000 solar systems had been installed in Zimbabwe's
rural areas by October.
The project funded by UNDP was officially terminated in June, but work went
on due to increased demand.
Project manager Gibson Mandishona said they managed to beat the targeted
figure of 9,000 installations in rural homes, clinics, schools and
business centres.
''The academic standards and income generating activities are improving,''
he said. ''There is increased entertainment in rural areas, thus reducing
rural-to-urban migration.''
The project started in 1993 as a pilot project to reduce the problem of
global pollution by substituting solar energy for fuels such as candles and
paraffin.
Mandishona said consultants were now working on a successor project
expected to start early 1999.
He said the project which emphasises the importance of environmental
protection and poverty alleviation would also address other forms of
renewable energy programmes which included wind and biomas.
''My hope is that if a new project takes place it should drastically
improve the coverage of solar home systems,'' mandishona said. ''The
successor
project, if accomplished, will solidly put Zimbabwe on a worldwide
renewable energy map.''
He said it was envisaged that renewable energies were the hope for the
future because they abated global warming and environmental stress.
''Zimbabwe,'' he added, ''could lead the Southern African Development
Community region into the era of modern renewable energy.''
Copyright © 1998 Panafrican News Agency.
All Rights Reserved.
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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