Maravi

Konga vows not to resign over fuel crisis

Konga vows not to resign over fuel crisis
By Fridah Zinyama
Sun 08 Nov. 2009, 04:01 CAT

ENERGY Minister Kenneth Konga yesterday declared that he would not resign from his position because he has managed to resolve the fuel crisis in the country. And Konga revealed that Cabinet will soon be meeting to discuss the sale of the 50 per cent shares in Indeni which it obtained from Total at the cost of US $5.5 million.

Meanwhile, Zesco acting managing director Cyprian Chitundu said Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) members would be assessing the progress which has been attained in the implementation of priority generation and transmission projects.

Konga, in an interview, said he would not succumb to public pressure for him to resign due to the ongoing fuel crisis in the country. He added that about 800,000 litres of fuel was being delivered on the local market on a daily basis.

“…400,000 litres of diesel and 400,000 litres of petrol are being delivered to Oil Marketing Companies daily,” he revealed.

Konga said possible shortages of fuel in some parts of the country could be as a result of transportation problems which OMCs were experiencing.

“There are also some allegations, which will be investigated by the Energy Regulation Board (ERB), the director in the Ministry of Energy and Zambia Competition Commission (ZCC), that some OMCs are hoarding fuel which is being delivered to them,” he said.

And Konga said Cabinet would soon be meeting to discuss ways in which to dispose of the 50 per cent shares that it obtained when Total sold its shares in Indeni Oil Refinery.

“We have received expressions of interest in the 50 per cent shares in Indeni and we are yet to meet to discuss the sale of the shares,” he said.

“So far, we have received expressions of interest from investors and ordinary Zambians who wish to obtain shares in Indeni through the stock exchange.”

And during the official opening of the SAPP executive committee meeting in Lusaka on Friday, Konga said it had been difficult to secure financing for power projects as potential financiers reassessed their priorities and put their money in more secure and short term investments.

Konga said the Southern Africa region had consistently registered positive and sustained growth over the last few years which had led to the region being faced with the challenge of matching power supply with power demand.

“But the global financial crisis has made it difficult to access funds with which to continued the implementation of generating and expanding power projects in the region,” he said.

“But despite the downturn, Zambia has recorded some progress in the construction of two hydrogenation projects in Kariba North and Itezhi Tezhi Hydro Power projects which are due for completion in 2012.”

Konga said the SADC secretariat had met in July, 2009 as a way to attract investment in collaboration with SAPP and Regional Electricity Regulators Association (RERA) to generate interest from funders to get projects to close within two years.

“It was agreed that in order to attract investors, the projects in the region required being bankable and that there should be political will at regional level in increasing power generation,” said Konga.

And Chitundu added that SAPP members would consider ways in which to improve power generation in the region and how best to run power utilities in a profitable manner.

Labels: FUEL, KENNETH KONGA, RESIGNATIONS

posted by MrK @ 11:28 PM