Power crisis: Minister blames ‘lying’ Met Dept

via Power crisis: Minister blames ‘lying’ Met Dept – New Zimbabwe 15/10/2015

THE country’s meteorological department should not be trusted because it lied to government leading to the failure to prepare for the current power supply crisis, Energy Minister Samuel Undenge has said.

Undenge told journalists Thursday that his ministry would no longer trust the met-office following the unprecedented drop in water levels at Kariba Dam which has led to poor generation capacity.

“We are all aware of the problems with water levels at Kariba Dam,” said the minister.

“Weather forecasts had told us that there will be enough rains to fill the dam and therefore maintain our power generation levels early this year.

“We only realised in April that we had been lied to by the met-office. They had seen mist and told us it was rain.”

He added: “My department has become sceptical of the met-office and we will henceforth take whatever they say with a big pinch of salt.”

Undenge said government had deliberately maintained generation capacity during the winter season against advise in order to keep people warm but then agreed to reduce as water levels went dangerously much lower.

The Energy Minister has come under heavy public attack for failing to come up with stop-gap measures to address the crisis.

He was however backed by President Robert Mugabe who recently told complaining Zimbabweans that; “Undenge haagaye magetsi (Undenge does not generate electricity)”.

Mugabe, a few weeks ago, also suggested that industry operates at night to circumvent the power crisis.

The energy ministry has also ordered military barracks and other cantonment areas to be switched of in order to serve power.