FUNDI WA KOMBO

Another Period of Power Cuts Causes Widespread Panic

The business community  asked the government and the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) to find alternative ways of ending the power woes in the country.

They reacted a day after the state power utility firm announced yet another period of power cuts beginning May 19, noting that they were yet to call off rationing announced in November last year.

The executive director of Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) Dr Evance Lweikiza, warned that the country's economy was heading south and would reach a devastating state if the power problems were not addressed urgently.

"This is intolerable... it will reach a point when citizens will not sit back and see their lives in despair while government officials watch from a distance," he warned adding: "We from the private sector have been saddened, not only by this announcement, but also the unreliability of power supply in the country."

He said that it was a shame that officials continued to give the same old stories and called on Tanesco officials and those from the ministry of Energy and Minerals to quit as they had failed to deliver."They are saying the dams are small and hence cannot collect enough water... Why should we always depend on hydro-power?" he questioned.

Mr Shah, who is the managing director of the Sumaria Group of Companies, said the prices of different manufactured goods would skyrocket because generators will now have to replace electricity from Tanesco.

"I wonder why this is happening too often... life is going to be tough on most of Tanzanians," he warned noting that it was about time the country embarked on alternative sources of energy because the fight against poverty was almost impossible without a reliable supply of power.

The head of the department of Business Administration at the Tumaini University, Dar es Salaam College, Mr Gilliard Loth, said the local markets would be affected significantly because the country's industries would not be producing. He said that this would lead to the importation of goods from neighbouring countries.

"But again, we should prepare for a rising rate of unemployment because these industries will never keep employees while they are not producing goods," he said.The scholar said the prices of household consumer items were also likely to go up and also be purchased in small numbers.