‘Zesa, BCC must jointly own Byo Power Station’

Zesa metre

BULAWAYO residents want power utility Zesa Holdings and the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to jointly own the Bulawayo Thermal Station to breathe life back into the power generator.

The facility is currently feeding zero power into the national grid which is struggling to service the southern African nation enduring 18-hour load shedding schedules.

Residents and business operators want the shareholding structure of the power station to be revised.

Bulawayo Residents Association chairperson Winos Dube said: “Of these options, I think we should go for shareholding of the Bulawayo Thermal Station by Zesa and BCC so that we all benefit. The total giveaway is a win or we stand to lose seriously.”

Bulawayo acting principal engineer (water supply) Dhumani Gwetu said: “The advantages of this option are that it will enable partners to come up with a balanced agreement and it will assist in identifying the current challenges.” 

Deputy mayor Mlandu Ncube, however, said Zesa and BCC had no capacity to run the thermal power station.

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