SOME parts of two Bulawayo suburbs have been plunged into
darkness following theft of $19 000 worth of copper cables with the Zimbabwe
Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) saying it cannot
guarantee immediate restoration of electricity in affected areas.
Copper cable thieves stole 950 metres of copper cables in
Richmond and Queens Park suburbs last week, leaving parts of the two suburbs
without electricity.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Chief Inspector Precious
Simango confirmed the copper cable theft.
“We received a case
of theft of copper cables that occurred in Richmond and Queens Park suburb on
Sunday. In Richmond suburb the thieves stole 450 metre copper cables worth RTGS
$9 000 while in Queens Park they stole 500 metre cables worth RTGS $10 000,” said
Chief Insp Simango.
“Investigations on the matter are in progress, but at the
moment we do not have any suspects. We are strongly appealing to members of the
public who might have information that could lead to the arrest of suspects to
come forward.”
Zesa southern region manager Engineer Lovemore Chinaka said
due to the theft of Zesa infrastructure, the power utility company cannot
guarantee immediate restoration of electricity.
“The theft has plunged the suburbs into darkness and
secondly as Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC)
we cannot guarantee quick restoration of power because our stocks have been
depleted by these thefts. So we are basically taking as much as it will take us
to procure new things and put it back on the network,” said Eng Chinaka.
He said theft of electricity infrastructure was also
stalling Zesa’s new projects and urged members of the public to report
suspects.
“The other impact is
that it is going to affect the new residential suburbs that are being developed
because our money is tied to the vandalised section. So as a result we are
running short of money to do new residential areas,” he said.
“Our message is simple we want people to report those guys
that they suspect to be involved in this. They can report to us or the police
because the police is equally seized with the matter, because we are working
with the police to stop this vandalism.” Chronicle
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