Chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) Felix Mosha
The cautious note on the need for an immediate implementation to tame unreliable power supply was voiced by the Chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) Felix Mosha, soon after the plan was approved by Parliament.
“The plan sounds sweet but we need to be assured of effective implementation so as to have reliable supply of power, since we are used to plans which are always short of proper implementation and that don’t deliver,” noted the CTI chairman.He added: “If the plan can bring the power situation back to normal, we will commend the government, but if there would be the usual delays, it is clear that the problem will persist, and so there would be nothing to cheer about.”
Mosha said further that the adverse impact of power shortage has applied to all industries and the only difference remained the level of the impact which varies from one industry to another.
“There are industries which have slashed a number of jobs, and some have reduced operational schedules,” said Mosha.
He explained that the power shortage effects have severely hit exports, which have dropped drastically as well as government revenues from taxes.
The CTI Chairman said further that the bigger effect of power woes on the national economy was that it scares prospective investors.
“ Even those existing investors can not execute their planned projects expansion as the power situation is unpredictable, it is difficult to establish statistics for such negative effects but for sure it is clear that prospective investors do suspend or cancel altogether their plans when the environment is not promising,” he noted.
A renowned economist and researcher, Professor Samuel Wangwe, told The Guardian on Sunday in an interview that he was in support of the plan ; saying it was a much needed one to rescue the worrisome situation.
He said it was high time that the government came up with a concrete workable long term plan to have the power problem brought to an end.
“We can not afford to be going with emergency plans whenever the nation faces power shortage since such plans can not bring about sustainable solutions; look at how Tanesco (national electrical supply company) was paralysed for more than five years when it was specified for privatisation. This should not be allowed if the government is determined to solve power problem,” said Wangwe
Under the laws governing the privatisation, once a firm is specified for divesture, among other thing no development plan could be undertaken.
On the fact that the Sh408 billion to be injected as power rescue package would be borrowed from commercial banks, Professor Wangwe who currently serves as executive Director of research organisation – Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) , said there was no harm in borrowing so as to rescue the endangered economy.
He said: “The nation is in deep trouble, therefore the government had no option rather than borrowing so long as the money will be used to increase production and arrest the situation we have been experiencing as without such intervention more revenues could continue to be lost.”
The country has been experiencing persistent power rationing for nearly eight months now from December 2010.
The situation worsened in June 2011 as Tanesco announced an unprecedented 12 – hour rationing during day light and 6 hours at night.
The power crisis is greatly attributed by government to unpredictable change of weather, which has resulted to enormous decrease of water level at six hydro power generation dams located in Morogoro Iringa/Dodoma, Tanga and Manyara regions.
For a number of years, the country has been relying on hydro power generation, which used to contribute 73 percent of total power requirement on the national grid system.
While all six power generating dams of Kidatu, Kihansi, Mtera, Pangani, Hale and Nyumba ya Mungu have an installed combined capacity of 561 megawatts, by mid July 2011 they could generate less that 150 megawatts. National power requirement at peak hours is 833 megawatts as per February 2011 statistics.
This has prompted the government to turn its eyes to an alternative means of power generation by using fuel-powered generators, which however are deemed costly compared to gas plants.
Though there are enough gas reserves at Songongo in Kilwa District in Lindi Region and at Mnazi Bay in Mtwara, the existing pipeline to transmit the gas lacks enough capacity. Therefore there is a plan to lay a bigger pipeline, which however is not expected to be functional until December 2012 at latest.
Based on the fact that the fuel prices are always unpredictable, it is clear that the government would continue to dig deeper into its coffers if it is determined to end power crisis.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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