Phikwe business laments 'casual' power solutions
KENNETH BANDA
Correspondent
| Friday February 8, 2008 00:00
The government was also criticised for failing to present its short-term strategies to ease the power cuts.
During a Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) budget review dinner in Selebi-Phikwe, most businesses said the government had undermined the magnitude of the power cuts.
Grant Thornton, Acumen partner, Vijay Kalyanaraman, said power outages were a serious threat to the country's economy.
He said the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Baledzi Gaolathe, in his budget speech, assured the nation that there were strategies being implemented to ensure that the country has sufficient power.
'The government said there is an agreement with Eskom but power supplied to Botswana will be reduced by 25 percent every year,' Kalyanaraman said.
Businesses have laid the blame squarely on the government arguing that the extent of damage to the economy had been undermined.
A senior manager at BCL, Godfrey Dzimombwe, said government, in the SADC region had acted casually regarding the power crisis.
'A lot of us were caught by surprise by the magnitude of these power cuts. They will affect lives and hurt the economy,' Dzimombwe said.
He said economies of most southern African countries were likely to shrink as a result of the power shortages.
One participant criticised the government for purchasing power from Mozambique which has to be transmitted through Zimbabwe. He said it was evident that Zimbabwe, itself in the middle of a gripping power crisis, was not going to honour its part.
Zimbabwe has said that its power grid towers are down, which means that Botswana cannot get energy bought from Carbora Bassa. Kalyanaraman conceded that the frequent power outages are going to pose the biggest challenge to the Botswana government.
BCL General Manager, Montwedi Mphathi said power deficiencies would hamper economic growth. He said it would be difficult for new investors to get power when existing businesses are struggling to get sufficient supplies.
'We only expect a solution from the Mmamabula Energy Project which will be completed in 2011. We are going to lose out on investment,' Mphathi said. He was also worried by the way the power crisis was being addressed, saying the issue was being taken 'casually'.
Mphathi said it was unfortunate the private sector was not allowed to generate power, with the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) maintaining a monopoly.
He said the government had, at the time of decommissioning a power plant, assured BCL that there would be enough power generated at Morupule.
Mphathi said the current power problems would adversely impact on the economy. He said companies would lose between 30-40 percent of theirpower supply every month, which would mean reduced production.
There are fears that the current power shortage would lead to job losses, if there are no immediate intervention measures put in place.
Another participant said that the government should have laid out short-term strategies to alleviate the impact of the shortages.
He said in the absence of a short-term solution, investor confidence could be dented.
A member of the Small Business Council (SBC), Palalani Moitlhobogi said it was contentious for one to make projections of economic growth when there is a 'real danger' that the energy crisis might lead to negative growth.