BUSINESSES in Bulawayo are counting losses following a five-day blackout in parts of the city centre due to an electrical fault at a Zesa substation in Belmont industrial area.
The fault has also caused a blackout in residential areas such as Suburbs, Woodlands and some parts of Ilanda.
Zesa technicians have since Monday been battling to restore power to the affected sections. Some businesses have been forced to shut down, only days after they reopened when the Government relaxed the lockdown on Monday.
Others have resorted to diesel generators and gas as alternatives.
Retail shops, restaurant and informal business operators who spoke to Chronicle yesterday said they have been adversely affected by the power outage.
Mr Martin Ndlovu, a manager at Billy’s Fry and Braai Restaurant said they are now forced to use a generator which consumes 60 litres of diesel daily.
“The situation has forced us to resort to using a generator which requires about 60 litres of fuel every day, which is unsustainable. In some cases, we end up throwing away some perishable products such as meat, vegetables and dairy foods because our generator does not operate during the night,” he said.
“We used about US$100 daily to fuel the generator because we have to take a risk as we do not want to lose our customers.”
Mr Wayne Cooke who operates a veterinary company said the blackout has forced them to suspend procurement of new stock of animal vaccines, which require a cold chain.
“We sell vaccines for livestock and they are supposed be kept at a temperature of between 2 and 10 degrees Celsius and this has forced us to destock the vaccines to avoid incurring losses. We are forced to buy at least 8 litres of diesel every day to power our generator as well as ice to keep the vaccines under the low temperatures,” he said.
“Most farmers rely on vaccines for their livestock since we are in the rainy season and animals need to be vaccinated to control the spread of diseases. Due to the power blackout, we are failing to supply our customers with enough vaccines.- Chronicle
