Friday 29 November 2019

LIGHTS OUT AFTER HOURS : GOVT ORDERS GOVT DEPTS


GOVERNMENT ministries and departments have been ordered to switch off all lights after work as a matter of policy to save electricity following power shortages that have resulted in prolonged load shedding.

Answering questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development Cde Magna Mudyiwa said the ministry has written to all ministries informing them of the new directive.

The Deputy Minister was responding to a question by Zanu-PF proportional representative member Cde Nyarai Tsuura who wanted to know Government’s policy regarding switching off of lights at Government offices.

“Surely, the country is facing critical power shortages. To the fact in question, my Ministry has since written to all Ministries emphasising on the need to save energy and switching off the lights after hours. As a Demand Side Management, (DSM) strategy the Government is encouraging the use of occupancy census and related gadgets to save power. All institutions are encouraged to retrofit inefficient lighting and use efficient lighting. A good example is at our offices which were retrofitted with energy efficiency lighting (LEDs) and other DSM strategies, including switching off of lights,” said the Deputy Minister.

“We expect other Government Ministries or complexes to follow suit and that will go a long way in motivating the rest of the public to implement the DSM strategies like the one in question. Awareness exercises are currently going through the media by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to that effect.”

The Deputy Minister said the Ministry is encouraging all citizens to be energy savers.

“Currently, the Ministry in partnership with various organisations is developing Minimum Performance Standards and practices for electrical equipment and looking forward to an Energy Efficiency Policy in 2020. That policy will address all the DSM strategies in totality,” she added.

Power challenges have resulted in power cuts that at times run up to 18 hours a day. Chronicle

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