Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Minister for Energy Dr Medard Kalemani has vowed to take stringent measures against incompetent and negligent staff, including those who drink alcohol during working hours.
Speaking here during his tour to inspect the development of Zuzu Power Cooling and Distribution Station in Dodoma recently, Dr Kalemani said the government has been investing a lot in the energy sector to ensure reliable power supply reaches the public, but a few people in the system have been disrupting the move.
He thus, called on management of Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) to thoroughly vet their would-be employees before recruiting and assign them sensitive areas, including power control room to avoid causing loss to the government and citizens’ properties.
“Control Room is an engine of every power station, make sure that you assign the right people who are competent and experienced,” he pointed out.
Recalling the fire outbreak at Msamvu Power Station early this month, Dr Kalemani said preliminary investigation of the incident showed that there were technical faults at the power station, but it was forced to operate by intolerable negligence. Dr Kalemani added that power station supervisors should make sure that people assigned to control rooms are not drunk in order to protect electricity infrastructures from possible fire outbreak.
“You should respect those rooms, because when I come to your power control room and find a person in charge is drunk, I will immediately fire all of you (drunken staff and supervisor). Advice the management to recruit enough staff to avoid accidents, which could be caused by fatigue,” he added.
Regarding, expansion of the state-of-the-art Zuzu Power Station in Dodoma, Dr Kalemani expressed his satisfaction with its development, and tipped that the project will cost the government at least US dollars 50 million However, he expressed the completion of the station will enable it to become an electric distribution hub and also address power shortage in Singida and Shinyanga regions.
Dr Kalemani said that, the station will have the capacity to generate at least 624 megawatts, adding that the amount is too high for local consumption which means that the surplus will be sold to Kenya and Zambia.
