THE government is mapping out
strategies to ensure stable distribution of electricity in Dar es
Salaam, including installation of underground transmission cables in the
Central Business District, to check frequent disruptions, the Minister
for Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter Muhongo, has said.
The mega-power project in the country’s
commercial capital, according to Prof Muhongo, is scheduled to start in
April this year in which there will be no more electricity poles. He was
responding to a supplementary question raised by Mr James Mbatia (Vunjo
NCCR-Mageuzi).
In his question, Mr Mbatia had wanted
the government to issue a clear-cut explanation on feasible measures
being taken to ensure consistent power distribution in the country.
Earlier in the main question, Kibamba MP
John Mnyika (Chadema) had wanted an explanation why most parts of the
constituency experience low voltage and oscillation despite being close
to the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) headquarters.
He also demanded to know what the
government was doing to solve the problem. Responding, Prof Muhongo said
plans are underway to change transformers in the constituency from 100
KV to 200Kv.
He also disclosed that the government
was working on strategies to reduce power tariffs and ensure stable
supply of the energy source. He said the Energy and Water Regulatory
Authority (EWURA) and TANESCO are currently working on new rates of
power charges.
According to the minister, the aim is to
reduce power charges below the current 12 cents per unit of
electricity. Though he declined giving more details on the new tariffs,
Prof Muhongo affirmed that the move was real and will soon be made
public, urging the legislators not to take it like any other political
rhetoric and empty talk.
“The plan is to move to another level
where Tanzanians will have cheap and reliable electricity as the
government look forward to establish more industries that call for
reliable source” he said.
Prof Muhongo told parliament that for
Tanzania to reach middle income economy in the next ten years, it needs
at least 10,000 megawatts to meet increased demand. Just to start with,
he said, there are already a lot of changes of transmission system to
suit the new plans.
He noted that there is distribution project from Iringa to Dodoma that has seen change of line from 220 to 400 kilovolts.
The minister added that similar project
has started near the border with Zambia to Namanga in an effort to sell
electricity to the neighbouring Kenya, just like other countries produce
more electricity and sell it to other countries.
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