Bulawayo residents have expressed outrage over the decision by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a ZESA Holdings subsidiary to switch off tower lights in the city.
ZETDC switched off the tower lights as part of the process of migrating its customers from postpaid metering to a prepaid model.
The power utility disconnected the tower lights three weeks ago, leaving some areas in darkness with residents raising security concerns over the development.
Speaking to Chronicle, Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA) president, Winos Dube, said he has lived in Bulawayo for more than 50 years but it was the first time he experienced the disconnection of tower lights. He said:
I don’t recall such a thing ever happening. I have lived in this city for more than 50 years but I have never seen such a thing happening.
We are disappointed and shocked to learn that ZESA has disconnected tower lights and street lights.
They play a major role in the city as they are part of security measures. We are already experiencing muggings, burglaries, and break-ins so without the tower lights our lives are being put at risk.
Why would ZESA just disconnect without engaging us the stakeholders?
We learned of this when one of the residents questioned a councillor on why the council was not fixing faulty tower lights, which were not functional for some time.
So, the councillor responded by saying the tower lights were not faulty but had been disconnected by the power utility.
This is strange and disappointing behaviour and we will be making follow-ups with the responsible authorities.
A security expert Wilson Sibanda who runs, Saf-Custodia Security Services, said the switching off of tower lights was a cause for concern. He said:
I don’t recall such a thing ever happening. I have lived in this city for more than 50 years but I have never seen such a thing happening. We are disappointed and shocked to learn that ZESA has disconnected tower lights and street lights.
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They play a major role in the city as they are part of security measures. We are already experiencing muggings, burglaries, and break-ins so without the tower lights our lives are being put at risk. Why would ZESA just disconnect without engaging us the stakeholders?
We learned of this when one of the residents questioned a councillor on why the council was not fixing faulty tower lights, which were not functional for some time.
So, the councillor responded by saying the tower lights were not faulty but had been disconnected by the power utility.
This is strange and disappointing behaviour and we will be making follow-ups with the responsible authorities.
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