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DAM-L Drought, low water levels nd debt lead to Tanzanian power rationing
----- Forwarded message from Lori Pottinger -----
From owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net Thu Oct 26 18:04:31 2000
From: lori@irn.org (Lori Pottinger)
Subject: Tanzanian power rationing/LS
Tanzania 'To Start Power Rationing After Elections'
The East African (Nairobi)
October 12, 2000
Staff Writer
Dar es Salaam
The Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) is taking precautionary
measures against severe power rationing expected to start on November 1,
right after the October 29 general election. The current power supply
is politically sustained, officials say.
Officials in the Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (Tanesco) say under normal
circumstances, power rationing would have taken place by now, but had been
postponed till after the general election later this month.
The CTI president, Mr. Ravi Chande, told The EastAfrican that the
confederation was aware of the problem. "Power rationing will
automatically affect the economy ...we have formed a
special committee to see to what extent the industrial sector will be
affected," he said.
The committee, under Mr. Rupin Rajani, is expected to issue its statement
this week, Mr. Chande said.
Commenting on the impending power rationing, the managing director of
Tanzania Breweries Ltd, one of the major power users, Mr. Anold Kilewo,
said that his plant would not stop production but the costs of
production would go up. "We have a stand-by generator, so
production will not be affected by the power rationing, but our production
costs will automatically increase," he said, without giving details.
The impending power rationing is attributed to a severe shortfall of rains
in the catchment areas of the main hydroelectricity source in southwestern
Tanzania and the government's failure to pay Tsh57 billion
($ 71.25 million) in outstanding bills to Tanesco.
Although Tanzania has the capacity to produce over 600mw and consumption is
just over 500mw, it has been unable to generate enough power this year
because of the severe drought that has hit most areas of the country.
The biggest thermal generators in Dar es Salaam are usually only switched
on to supplement shortfalls.
In his budget speech for 2000/01, the Minister for Minerals and Energy, Dr
Abdallah Kigoda, told the National Assembly that as of May, about
Tsh75.1 billion ($93.87 million) was owed by the government,
parastatals and individual customers to the state-owned Tanesco.
The Zanzibar government owes Tanesco Tsh17.8 billion ($22.25 million) and
the Tanzania Union government owes it Tsh33.7 billion ($42.12 million),
though the debt was reduced to Tsh30.1 billion ($37.62 million) after
the government paid up Tsh3.6 billion ($4.5 million) on
June 28. Parastatal organisations owe Tanesco a total of Tsh16.5 billion
($20.62 million).
A senior Tanesco official told The EastAfrican last week that power
rationing was a must if the Tanzania government failed to pay its
outstanding bills.
"If it were a cement or textile manufacturing company facing a financial
crisis like ours (Tanesco) it would have closed business before October,
but politics has saved the day expect to start power rationing immediately
after the election," he said.
However, a senior officer in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals told The
EastAfrican that the government was working around the clock to ensure
that the Ubungo gas turbines were operational "because the water level
at Mtera dam is discouraging. As of September 29, the
water level at Mtera was 691.79 metres. That means the dam was left with
only 1.79 meters to reach the minimum water level of 690.0 meters," he said.
That level will be reached in a few weeks, officials said. The maximum is
698.5 metres.
The Tanesco managing director, Mr. Baruany Luhanga, was not available for
comment.
Copyright _ 2000 The East African. Distributed by allAfrica.com. For
information about
the content or for permission to redistribute, publish or use for
broadcast, contact the publisher.
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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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