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Mkhululi Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
RESIDENTS in Bulawayo suburbs which have been in darkness since Monday say they are counting their loses as the power outages have forced them to spend unbudgeted funds on alternative sources of power.

Suburbs which include Entumbane, Cowdray Park, Norwood, Woodville, Richmond and Trenance have not had electricity since Monday following a major fault at Richmond Sub Station.

They are likely to be in darkness until the weekend.

Retailers and vendors who sell alternative power sources like LP gas and firewood have increased prices to cash in on desperate residents.

Mis Phindile Ncube of Entumbane who keeps broiler chickens says the chicks she started rearing last week are dying in numbers because of the cold.

“I got 250 chicks on Friday last week and the chicks need warmth to grow well. With the blackout they have started dying because I do not have an alternative power source. Even those which shall remain after power is restored aren’t likely to make it to maturity,” she said.

Ms Ncube said her plans for the festive season have been crushed as she will not be able to raise the money she needed, through her business.

Mr Trust Jim from Cowdray Park said the power outage has seriously affected his family as they had to make plans to prevent perishable food from rotting.

“The situation is very bad my brother. I had bought 10 kgs of beef and 4 kgs of chicken which was in the fridge. I have been forced to cook all of it rather than to throw it away. Another challenge is that alternative sources of power are very expensive for example, LP gas has increased to US$1,70 from around US$1,20 while firewood is selling at US$1 per bundle. With firewood, it has been difficult to make fire since it has been raining most of the time,” said Jim.

Mr Absalom Dube also from Cowdray Park said the LP gas sellers and firewood vendors have been taking advantage of the situation because of the high demand.

“It has been five days without power so our daily routines have been affected. Gas is selling at 30 rand per kg in my area. I have school children preparing for exams. They cannot study at night. It is tough. I wish Zesa could solve the problem quickly because a big suburb like Cowdray Park without power is a disaster,” he said.

Gogo Nodumo Masuku from Richmond, who witnessed the area’s power substation going up in flames, said: “I do not remember the last time we faced such a lengthy outage in this suburb. But when we saw the fire, I feared we could experience a long outage.

I am forced to look for firewood in the bush near my area but I am afraid, izihlahla sezihlumile sokuvalekile, izigangi zingangibamba. Zesa must work over time to address the problem, we have lost all perishables.”

Mr Simon Ndlovu from Norwood, who is a soccer fanatic, said beside the challenges of cooking and lighting that have been caused by the blackout, he has missed his soccer teams playing in the UEFA Champions league.

“I am a staunch Real Madrid fan. I missed my team playing on Wednesday. Communication has also been cut as we have not been able to charge our phones. This week I am off work, so I have nowhere to charge my mobile,” he said.

In a Press statement, ZESA Acting Western Region manager Engineer Lloyd Jaji said the power utility had experienced severe damage to electricty supply equipment.

“ZETDC would like to advise that the city of Bulawayo is facing intermittent strong winds and heavy rains as from the 22nd of November. The strong winds and heavy rains have caused severe damage to power equipment mainly due to trees falling on power lines. The damage is mainly extensive in the residential suburbs were most residents maintain trees on their premises,” he said.

He said the power company was overwhelmed by reports of faults coming from residents and is failing to attend to them speedily.

“Due to the overwhelming calls that need to be attended to at the same time, it is not possible to attend to all affected customers within 24 hours and some customers may experience power cuts for more than three days,” said Eng Jaji.

He said their engineers are working flat out to normalise the situation.

“In addition to the above the switch gear at Glenville Substation at Richmond was gutted by fire leading to loss of power to Entumbane, Richmond, Cowdray Park, Trenance, and Norwood suburbs. Efforts to replace the equipment are underway and we hope to restore power by Saturday 28 November,” he said.-@thmkhust