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Power crisis to ease mid next month - PM
2006-09-22 09:00:20
By Gerald Kitabu
Power blackout currently impacting on the country’s business and domestic life would ease by mid next month, according to the Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa.
Lowassa assured Tanzanians yesterday in Dar es Salaam that his government was working with the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO),to reduce the gravity of power crisis in a few weeks\’ time.
He was responding to Tanzania Private Sector Foundations (TPSF) committee members who met him yesterday morning in Dar es salaam to discuss the power crisis which is also affecting the private sector.
Before meeting the Prime Minister yesterday, TPSF had formed a seven-member committee to investigate, examine and propose immediate and emergency action plans to curb power shortage.
TPSF proposed immediate action plans to the government that TANESCO should be allowed to procure power under emergency conditions by reducing the bureaucratic red tape.
The Prime Minister said immediate plans which are already in place include the setting aside of funds by the government to hire thermal power plants for the next two years.
The thermal power plants which would be installed at Ubungo in Dar es saaam would use gas and diesel.
He said two firms, Aggreko from Scotland and Richmond from the US have been commissioned to bring in thermal power plants which use gas and diesel.
While Aggreko\’s thermal power plants have the capacity to produce 40MW of power, Richmond\’s generators have the capacity to produce 100MW.
He said some thermal power plants had already arrived and would soon be installed, adding that the power crisis would ease slowly as thermal plants begin working.
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