Maravi

Utilise resources for betterment of citizens’ lives - Mugabe

Utilise resources for betterment of citizens’ lives - Mugabe
By Sandra Lombe in Katima Mulilo, Namibia
Sun 14 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe says there is need for countries to utilise resources for the betterment of their citizens’ lives. Speaking at Katima Mulilo Sports Complex after the commissioning of the Namibian Caprivi link interconnector on Friday, President Mugabe said the southern African region was endowed with different resources but outsiders benefited more and not the local people.

“We must harness this; we must use it to the benefit of our people. We must have it electricity brought closer to the rural people,” President Mugabe said.

He said the commissioning was a step in ensuring that the region had sufficient electricity supply.

President Mugabe said the completion of the interconnector would help in regional integration especially that the sub-region had in the past been hit by energy inefficiency.

“We should therefore move more urgently on the Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia (ZIZABONA) to integrate the transmission of power. ZIZABONA will decongest the central corridor in Zimbabwe,” President Mugabe said.

“Governments must do all we can to give political momentum by this project cooperation.”

And President Rupiah Banda urged Zesco and Nambia Power (NamPower) to continue working closely on other projects to sustain the growing demand of power as the Southern African Development Community economies continued to grow.

President Banda said the ZZIZABONA interconnector project, which involves Nampower, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) and Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) was vital.

President Banda said the commissioning of the Caprivi link was also significant because it opened a second north-south power highway in the SADC region.

And Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba observed that power utilities had in the last five years in the region been busy upgrading.

He said the governments should continue to support commendable works by power utilities in the region.

Pohamba, who is also SADC chairman, said governments in the regional bloc attached importance to power generation and regional integration.

He said the SADC states should continue supporting recommendations of the ZIZABONA.

President Pohamba said the second phase of the interconnector would link the northern and southern members on the domestic front.

However, President Pohamba said time had come to harness renewable resources such as solar energy for the betterment of the people.

And Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama said energy was the backbone of industries and crucial for development.

“No country can develop without electricity. It is also true that not all countries can be self-sustaining in terms of electricity,” he said.

President Khama said with full connection, he hoped the power outages which resulted in revenue loss would be minimized if not eradicated.

NamPower constructed a 350KV, 300 megawatt high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission link, the Caprivi interconnector, stretching from North-eastern Caprivi region to central Namibia. The link provides an asynchronous link between the Namibian and Zambia/ Zimbabwean electricity networks to ensure reliable power transfer capability networks. This will ensure reliable power transfer capability between the East and west of Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

Labels: DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY, NAMPOWER, ROBERT MUGABE, RUPIAH BANDA, ZIZABONA

posted by MrK @ 6:39 PM