Africa-Press – Botswana. Plans are underway to connect Pandamatenga and the rest of Chobe District to the national power supply grid in 2024 through the Transitional National Development Plan.
Addressing a kgotla meeting in Pandamatenga on October 20, MP for Chobe, Mr Machana Shamukuni said the idea was to connect the district to the national power grid and the tender expected to be awarded early next year to build a substation in the district.
The MP, also the Minister of Justice, indicated that government was aware of the persistent power outages in Pandamatenga originating from Zimbabwe, which supplied the village.
Mr Shamukuni said Chobe District was connected to the power grids from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia while consultations with Zimbabwe were ongoing to resolve the Pandamatenga power supply as it was the most perilous one.
He emphasised that Pandamatenga was a special economic zone with many business operations that required electricity.
“Pandamatenga is the largest producer of grains and the new silos under construction require electricity, which is why government expedites on electricity connection to Pandamatenga,” he said.
Responding to questions from residents, Botswana Power Corporation area engineer, Mr Tebogo Zimba explained that a major breakdown in Morupule A and B in May prompted BPC to defer a generator that was planned for Pandamatenga to Matshelagabedi backup plant, which was connected to the national grid.
This, he said was in response to the national crisis, which could lead to a national blackout if the backup plants were not powered.
He said BPC had made strides in repairing the power plant in Zimbabwe, which presented defects on the connection grid to Botswana, resulting in regular power outages. He, however, noted that contractual agreements deemed it difficult for BPC to attend faults in Zimbabwe.
Mr Zimba said with the ongoing expansion of the national power grid, a substation would be built in Kasane in 2024 to connect the rest of Chobe to the national grid.
He encouraged residents to utilise the solar roof top project and install solar panels that could even supply the BPC grid.
Presenting the village report earlier, Pandamatenga VDC chairperson, Mr Baitshepi Shiane expressed concern over persistent power cuts that could go up to two weeks in the village.
He said this had crippled day to day business operations and general livelihoods of residents.
The chairperson also presented the request on behalf of the residents for the relevant ministries to address them on the issue of power supply and escalate the matter to their counterparts in Zimbabwe.
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