Power
rationing in Zanzibar expected to eat into tourism’s bottom line
BY DR. WOLFGANG H. THOME, ETN
CORRESPONDENT, AFRICA | SEP 24, 2013
Power rationing has returned to Zanzibar according to reports
received from the Spice Island following a series of technical faults
discovered in the setup of the new 100 MW power cable link with the mainland,
which was installed earlier in the year.
A source on the island confirmed that the power company has
instituted a load shedding schedule which will allocate a greatly reduced
electricity supply to households, businesses, restaurants and resorts, all of
which now once again rely on their in-house generators or solar power systems,
of which not too many have been installed as yet due to the substantial cost of
investments.
“There is nothing we can do
right now but suffer the consequences. We have learned of some technical faults
which are apparently the reason, in the larger cable from the mainland.
It worked fine for some time so I am a bit surprised this only
came up now and wonder if it truly is the reason behind it. The power company
yesterday said they now use the old smaller capacity cable to bring power in
from the mainland. This could take until late October and it is costly for the
hotels to run generators around the clock. But cooling systems must operate to
keep food fresh and air condition in rooms is essential for tourists so there
is no option.
It is expensive for the
hotels because diesel prices are high and there is no tax relief even, we have
to pay pump prices. We would hope that in such exceptional cases government
could allow for special measures for businesses but they did not listen over
our complaints on some of the VAT and other budget issues, so why would they listen
now. Households and small businesses are hardest hit because they cannot afford
generators,” commented a regular contributor from the main Zanzibar island of
Unguja.
Much of Zanzibar’s economy is driven by tourism, besides the more
traditional export of spices, and prolonged power rationing is expected to eat
deep into the bottom line of hotels, resorts and restaurants already battling a
series of negative events in past months which impacted on the island’s
reputation as a safe tourism destination.
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