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Small enterprises feel blow of power cuts
2006-03-03 09:49:27
By Pacifique Nkeshimana
Small-Scale businesspeople in Dar es Salaam have complained bitterly about the month-old power rationing, saying it has adversely affected their earnings.
An on-spot check by The Guardian this week found that traders and businessmen are forced to close down for long hours due to power cuts that reduce their earnings.
Among those hit hard are cybercafé owners. All cybercafés outside the city centre are out of business for most of the day because the owners do not have generators to use when Tanesco switches off supply.
The owners are unable to provide Internet services from 7am up to 9pm, when power is restored. Even then, at that time the demand for Internet is low, they said.
Most cybercafés visited had closed down with messages hanging on the door alerting potential surfers of the absence of power. Hakuna umeme (No power), the messages read.
Some cybercafé owners with generators have been forced to hike charges to mitigate the expenditures they incur by using generators.
A café in Sinza now charges 2,000/- per hour instead of the previous 500/-.
As a result, most people flock Millennium Towers on Ali Hassan Mwinyi road to surf, where they queue for up to two hours before reading their e-mails.
Interviewed, most Internet service providers suggested that power-rationing be effected at night to enable them do some business.
’Electricity is switched off at 7am and restored at night when demand for Internet services is low,’ one operator said.
Mariam Ali, the operator of Sab Cybercafe at Bamaga in Mwenge, said that her daily turnover had diminished from 30,000/- to 40,000/- to nil because of power rationing.
’Since last Thursday, it is only today (yesterday) that we have had power during the day. I am not sure for how long the power will last. It comes during the night when people are not there to surf.’
Other businesses affected by power rationing include hair salons, milk shops, millers and bureaus that provide typing and photocopy services.
The survey established that the situation was worse at Three-Ways Shoprite supermarket where sausages, ice cream, tomatoes and other perishable commodities go to waste due to lack of power.
’The icecream melts quickly, sausages rot and tomatoes perish because we do not have a generator to power the deep-freezer,’ Rehema Mzava, an attendant at Shoprite, said.
Joseph Kana, the owner of Ibukoni Animal Feeds and Flour Mills, said unreliable power supply has hampered his business.
He said he is forced to close the shop for long hours because of power.
’I used to earn more than 20,000 /- per day, but following the long power cuts I am forced to close the business,’ he said.
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