The government says its project implementation under the 100-day cycle programme is expected to move the country forward as it aspires to attain Vision 2030 for the benefit of the citizens.
For that reason, a senior government official said it is a collective responsibility to ensure the best use of available resources for the betterment of the country and its people.
This was said by the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and Monitoring Implementation of Government Programmes, Dr Joram Gumbo, on Wednesday 1st of July 2020 after touring the Transformer Manufacturing Project in Harare which is being done by Zesa Enterprises – a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings under the Ministry of Energy and Power Development for the implementation of the project during the 5th cycle, which was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking after the tour, Dr Gumbo said; “I would like to commend the Ministry of Energy and Power Development for the continued implementation of the project during the 5th cycle, which was heavily affected by the outbreak of covid 19 pandemic and the pandemic has been followed by by serious economic consequences and all sectors have not been spared,” said Minister Gumbo.
Despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Gumbo was pleased by the work done at the company so far.
“It is our expectation that the program will lead to the realization of developmental goals as set out in the Transitional Stabilization Program(TSP) and subsequently the attainment of Vision 2030 through close monitoring and evaluation of projects by the Government. The project seeks to increase access to electricity and reduce the backlog which currently stands at over 3 000 transformers countrywide.
“The manufacturing statistics from the third cycle to date reveals that over 322 transformers were manufactured. Of these, only 60 were manufactured during the 5th cycle out of a target of 150,” said Minister Gumbo.
In the recent past, the production has been affected by serious foreign currency shortages but Government intervened with an injection of US$ 1 million through treasury which should bring some relief to the operations with other US$ 5 million which was allocated through Afriexim Bank to boost the full operations
He added that the government is disturbed by reports of power transmission disruptions linked to the vandalism of electricity infrastructure and the attendant negative impact on ordinary people and business operations.
“As the government, we’re particularly worried by the continued vandalism and theft of transformers and the delays experienced in replacing them. ZESA should be exploring the latest technological innovations that can deter the vandals and also consider the production of transformers that are not easy to tamper with. I would like to appeal to the general populace to take a stand against the societal malcontents and report any suspected vandalism to the police,” said Minister Gumbo.
Speaking on the same occasion Zesa Enterprises Managing Director, Mr. Burusa Mandipezano said, “Despite all these challenges, the company is working tirelessly to make sure that it clears the National transformer backlog and eye the the regional markets. With the US$ 5 million grant, we are expecting to to receive the materials purchased from Chinese and Indians respectively so that we can get into full-swing manufacturing of the transformers.”
The Second Republic adopted the 100-day cycle programme to increase effectiveness of its operations and create operational efficiencies in the implementation of national priority projects.
The programme was aligned with the implementation of the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (2018-2020).