ZESCO urged to end power outages

ZESCO must immediately find lasting solutions to electricity power outages in Mushili, Ndeke, Chichele and other parts of the Constituency in Ndola to prevent the problem from getting worse every rain season.

Speaking when he toured affected areas in the constituency, Bwana Mkubwa Member of Parliament Constituency Jonas Chanda said he was disappointed with the electricity situation in these areas there was need for ZESCO to improve its services.

He said the situation had been worsened by the company's poor public relations and slow response rates whenever affected residents reported these problems to the ZESCO Customer Call Centre.

And Dr Chanda also said the newly constructed government clinic in Mushili township which was earmarked for expansion into a First Level Referral Hospital by Ministry of Health, had not yet been fully connected to the required electricity power needs.

This he said was causing an overload and power outages at the health facility, a situation which he noted threatened the storage of vaccines and other drugs.

The power problem also affected the pumping of water from the boreholes, resulting in water shortages and blocked sewer lines.

In many parts of Mushili and Ndeke extension township as well as Chichele settlements, Dr Chanda said the residents were being subjected to severe electricity power outages in their homes for periods of more than four or five days non-stop and end up losing perishable household foodstuffs in refrigerators.

The parliamentarian said that in Ndeke township Extension (Overspill), for three years now, the area has been experiencing power outages due to overloading and the problem abecomes worse when it is too windy or when there is heavy rains.