Tanzania: Tanesco Directed to Supply Electricity to More Residents

By Kareny Masasy, Shinyanga

ENERGY Minister, Dr Medard Kalemani, has directed Tanesco to supply electricity to more residents of Shinyanga Region.

This is from the fact that the region generates 180MW, but only 70MW is consumed.

"A total of 110MW are not used. Connect more people to power. Machines that keep this remaining amount of power for long time may be damaged. Let's avoid this loss (damage)," said the minister during his recent meeting with the company's staff in the region.

The minister stressed immediate power connection to residents, a move that would also increase the revenue.

"Introduce special desks in various areas to serve as many people as possible. Assign a customer care member of staff at every office to address challenges facing clients," said the minister.

He further revealed that the budget for Tanesco in Shinyanga was 7bn/-, but only 3bn/- had been spent, meaning that there was no enough efforts to increase the number of customers.

Only 240, 394 customers are connected to power services in the region, according to Dr Kalemani.

"Increasing the number of customers and revenue collection as well as better services to customers are among the criteria to assess the performance of regional managers," Dr Kalemani noted as he criticised the company for forcing customers to pay for some services like erecting electric poles.

"This is unacceptable and whoever is caught harassing customers in any way will face legal action," he warned.