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Danger as Tanesco runs short of poles
14th May 2009
14th May 2009
Rotten poles are a common sight nowadays in a number of places where power lines pass, posing a serious danger to local residents and passers-by.The Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd (Tanesco) is facing an acute shortage of electricity poles, putting at serious risk many peoples lives.
A month-long survey by this paper in Dar es Salaam shows that the giant state-run power firm has been grappling with the problem for at least two months.
A Tanesco customer hinted this paper on the issue after discovering that ants had eaten right into the middle of the pole installed at his residence at Wazo Hill, Dar es Salaam.
The pole, which serves six households, could fall over any time now and therefore needs emergency replacement.
I alerted Tanescos Kinondoni North offices near TMJ Hospital at Msasani on the issue about a month ago and was issued with reporting number TB 9006248 and asked to call 022-2700367 or 0784768584 (Emergencies) if things got worse.
However, as I speak, the situation remains as it was when I contacted them (Tanesco), explained the source, visibly disappointed and apprehensive.
I have contacted the companys Msasani offices again several times since my last visit there, but to no avail, only empty promises.
Neither has intervention by a neighbour who is a Tanesco employee helped; they confided to him that the company is short of poles, that it is a national problem and that there is nothing they can do to help me, he added.
The Guardian visited the sources residence on Tuesday morning and confirmed that the middle portion of the pole in question has rotted away.
It remains in place only because it is supported by cables supplying power to the six residences, and could snap any moment.
Tanesco North Regional Manager Makoye Ngerere confirmed about the shortage when contacted yesterday. But he was short on details, only stating that it was indeed a national problem.
What I can say for now is that the shortage of electricity poles is not peculiar to our companys Kinondoni North Region; rather, it is a national problem. Therefore, I would advise you to contact our headquarters for more comprehensive details, he told our reporter.
However, efforts to get the Tanesco headquarters to comment on the matter have failed.
For about two weeks now, senior managers contacted either in person or by telephone have been uncharacteristically uncooperative.
The whereabouts of managing director Dr Idris Rashid and communications manager Badra Masoud remained a mystery to our reporters, who spent most of yesterday at the firms head offices at Ubungo.
Bashir Mrindoko, Commissioner for Energy in the Energy and Minerals ministry, meanwhile said when reached for comment that it was very surprising hearing that the company was facing a shortage of electricity poles.
Tanesco is supposed to handle such matters itself The reports are very surprising, though.
If they think things are too complicated for them to handle without help, they know that they can always approach the ministry for assistance, said the commissioner on telephone.
The power firm reported in December 2007 that it was facing an acute shortage of electricity poles, forcing it to import wooden ones from South Africa.
Dr Rashid was quoted as saying they usually depended on poles from Iringa Region but most of these were now being exported to Kenya and Sudan and the few left were not enough for Tanescos needs. It is not clear whether this is still the scenario.
Tanesco has often depended on wooden electric poles for supplying power in the country, with metal pylons being used to carry high tension power lines.
The local price of wooden poles shot up soon after the government hiked levies on forest products in the 2007/2008 budget. According to the Tanesco MD, the price for a single wooden pole then stood at 268,000/-, up from 90,000/- in 2004.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN