As Fraud Convict Wicknell Chivayo is given more ZESA tenders after already swindling $5million public money, a clinic has endured 15 months without electricity since August 2016.
Open letter to ZESA the ZETDC
ELECTRICITY CHALLENGES ZIMUTO SIDING, WARD B, MASVINGO NORTH.
Having worked so hard and from our meagre earnings, managed to have electricity connected to our village in Zimuto Siding, under ward B of Masvingo North constituency, it was our belief that our lives and those of fellow villagers were going to be transformed for the better.
We drilled boreholes and built water tanks in preparation for irrigation projects, and we powered all these projects with elelectricity. For two weeks we enjoyed piped water only to be disappointed when our transformer was said to have developed a fault on August 5, 2016, up to now ZETDC has not been able to replace or repair this transformer.
Our meeting with Mr Machingambi was a very cordial one but yielded nothing as his promise to have electricity restored by June 2017 never materialised.
Our transfomer services the only major clinic we have in the area, Zimuto Clinic, which serves the majority of the people in Zimuto. The clinic uses drugs that have to be refregirated. Without electricity these drugs cannot be stocked.
The clinic also serves most of the expecting mothers when tbey have to deliver. Without electricity these pregnant mothers are having to bring candles for lighting during delivery. I sympathize with the hard working nurses who have to work under these conditions where they have to assist in the delivery process using candles, they at times use lighting from their cellphones that is if they are charged
I have personally witnessed one lady who had been bitten by a snake during the night and had to be attended to at this clinic. We had to use our cellphones to provide lighting for these nurses. On record is another man who had injured himself with an axe, again the nurses had to rely on their phones to provide lighting during the stitching process.
Again this transformer serves Government departments at this business centre, namely the Police, Agricultural extension Offices, Veterinary etc. All these departments keep stock of drugs for community use. Without electricity all these departments are affected in one way or the other. We never thought we would go for more than a year without power being restored. Rural electrification has been a marvel for many, but if there is no proper maintenance every noble project is doomed to fail.
Our project was supposed to create a greenbelt of Masvingo. With all the resources invested in this project we are nothing but a laughing stock in the community. Our cattle troughs are dry, no irrigation to talk about, all as a result of a transformer that has gone for more than a year without being repaired. We engaged our Member of Parliament, Davies Marapira to air our plight, nothing has materialised. Several letters have been submitted to ZETDC to express the importance of power at Clinic level, veterinary, household, as well as the Police, and Mr Machingambi confirms receipt of these.
One other option available which the ZETDC manager Mr Machingambi pointed out was to link our line to the transformer that serves the main shopping centre and to join this only one or two poles would be needed plus the cable to link this line. The lines are only a few metres apart. The transformer at the shops has the capacity to power the other section that is being serviced by this faulty transformer. Is this a case of one of those projects that have to develop into a white elephant under our watch.