Matola pleads for power during Sadc Summit
Malawi’s Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola has asked the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) officials to do everything possible to ensure that the country does not experience blackouts during the coming Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government.
The summit is scheduled for 10-18 August 2013 in the capital, Lilongwe.
Matola made the call during a surprise visit at Escom offices in the commercial city of Blantyre on Friday.
“August is a busy month. We have a lot of activities taking place such as the Sadc Summit, International Youth Conference as well as a conference for former first ladies. So, we don’t want another embarrassment as it happened last time,” said Matola.
However, the minister said government realises that it was not Escom’s fault, but still precautionary measures should be taken.
“There is a lot of feedback from customers concerning Escom services. So, I wanted to come and see for myself. It is also high time that Escom embarked on a campaign aimed at giving customers enough information on any changes in tariffs and why,” he said.
In response to the call, Escom chief executive officer John Kandulu assured the minister that Escom is trying everything possible to ensure the problem does not arise again.
He said: “The painful thing is that while we are working hard to clear out the backlog, we are also hit by the bad behaviour of vandalising of materials which are very expensive to purchase.”
