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Copper conductors theft major challenge for Zimbabwe Electricity
Paul Nkala, Chronicle (Zimbabwe)
ABOUT 80 percent of the power outages experienced in the Matabeleland region are a result of theft of copper conductors, a senior Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority official has said. The parastatal’s network manager, Mr Sithelo John Nkiwane, said this at a meeting organised by the Tsholotsho Business Community and the Tsholotsho Development Association on Wednesday.
He said ZESA was faced with a number of challenges. Mr Nkiwane said the major problem was that of theft of copper conductors which were being stolen on a daily basis. He said theft of copper conductors accounted for about 80 percent of power outages experienced in the region.
… The deputy chairperson of the Tsholotsho District Hospital Board, Mrs Musa Mathema, pleaded with the power utility to spare the institution power cuts on Fridays and Saturdays as these were days when they get a radiographer from Bulawayo.
In response, Mr Nkiwane said there was little that could be done and urged the hospital authorities to ensure that their generator was working all the time.
Mr Absolom Dube, who is the chairman of the business community and the chairman of the hospital board, said their biggest challenge was the shortage of diesel to power the hospital generator. Mt Nkiwane promised that he would present the hospital’s request to his superiors.
There was also concern that businesses at the centre, especially butcheries, were experiencing huge losses as their meat was going bad due to the power cuts.
(20 October 2008)
Copper thefts leave youth sports scrambling
Emanuella Grinberg, CNN
TUCKER, Georgia (CNN) — Last Thursday around dusk, Granite Park soccer field in suburban Atlanta was more crowded than usual.
Makeshift goals had been erected to accommodate five extra teams from the Tucker Youth Soccer Association. On the sidelines, groups of giggly kids waited their turns on the field while soccer moms and dads mined the crowded green space in search of a place to park their lawn chairs.
The atypical arrangement was caused by thieves who had ripped out copper wiring from light poles at nearby Henderson Park field, causing about $6,000 in damage, displacing teams that practiced under the lights and making the TYSA players the latest victims of a nationwide epidemic.
(20 October 2008)
Pensioners cutting back on heating risk death, warns expert
Myra Butterworth, The Daily Telegraph
The large rises in heating costs has pushed an extra 750,000 pensioners into fuel poverty – which means 2.6 million are now paying at least a tenth of their pension on fuel bills.
Last winter, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed there were 23,900 more deaths in England and Wales than the average for warmer months.
But after this year’s price hikes, it is feared thousands more could perish as they try to save money…
(22 October 2008)
