We are sorry for Heroes blackout- ZESCO

Energy Minister Christopher Yaluma says it is not feasible to unbundle ZESCO Limited until cost reflective electricity tariffs are put in place to attract investors.

Mr. Yaluma says ZESCO is operating at a loss under texisting tariffs.

He says NO investors would want to invest in ZESCO which is operating on losses.

Mr. Yaluma however, says government may consider to privatise the power distribution side of ZESCO and leave the transmission part to be run by government.

The Minister was speaking during a Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry-ZACCI breakfast held in Lusaka .

At the same function ZACCI President Geoffrey Sakulanda says the current power deficit being experienced in the country must be treated as a national disaster requiring all stakeholders to work with government in mitigating it.

And former Commerce Minister Felix Mutati called on government to come up with a survival strategy such as implementing tariffs that will attract investment in the energy sector.

ZESCO Limited has apologised to President Edgar Lungu and the entire nation on the power outage that occurred during a friendly match between Zambia and Gabon on Tuesday.

The loss of power supply which occurred at 18:20 hours was caused by a tripping on Heroes number two, 11Kilovolt feeder at Matero substation which resulted in a total blackout at the stadium for almost three minutes.

ZESCO limited Managing Director Victor Mundende says prior to the football match, a team of engineers were strategically placed to ensure that all sources of supply were available.

This is contained a statement sent to ZNBC News in Lusaka by Mr Mundende.

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