IN JUNE this year, the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) board of directors, led by its chairperson Likonge Mulenga, took a trip to Luapula Province to familiarise themselves with the authority’s projects – past, present and future.
One such project visited was the Lunga mini-solar grid on the island district of Lunga.
Now, as hard as getting there may be – which may even take days for some due to the choice of a boat – the dwellers on this island that can only be accessed by either water or air transport have to concede to a life without electricity.
Implementation of phase I of this particular mini-grid project commenced in 2015, but it has stalled; prompting outcry from residents, including Chief Kasomalunga of the Unga people who demanded that the authority should expedite the connection of electricity to the island district.
“It’s not like people have refused this project. They have accepted it wholeheartedly. We are even lucky that we have a new government in place and a new board. If it was the previous team, maybe I would not have even come. I would have said that I was just going to waste my time, pantu balifilwa! Icalenga na bantu nomba bafulwa ati nililali fikacitika, pantu ku ncende shimbi ficitika mumwakafye umo (the previous group failed and this annoyed people to a point where they started wondering when they would see electricity because in some areas these projects only take a year),” Chief Kasomalunga told Mrs Mulenga and her team.
Among the assurances that Mrs Mulenga and her team made to the people of Lunga was that by July, the transportation of equipment would commence, to facilitate for the completion of the project.
As they say, delay is not denial. REA chief executive officer Linus Chanda says progress has since been made on the project.
He says: “So far, we have transported all the poles needed to run the distribution network and Standard Micro Grid will start works.”
Mr Chanda adds that a report, with all the details of the project, has already been submitted to the European Union, which is financing it.
He says as financiers, they are supposed to be updated on the project. Another report has also been sent to the Public Private Partnership Unit at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning to justify and clarify certain areas of the deal.
“Since we settled for a private company, and we are a public entity, we are required to send a report to them (PPP Unit) and they have responded and given us comments, which we are looking at,” he said.
He assured Lunga residents that the project remains one of those prioritised by the authority.
“We are 100 percent committed to it and we are following it vigorously and cannot wait for it to be completed,” Mr Chanda said.
Since its inception, REA seeks to provide electricity infrastructure to rural areas using appropriate technologies and improve life quality in rural communities.
Currently, it is implementing power projects using grid extension of the existing network, mini-hydro and solar systems to provide electricity to rural areas in Zambia.
Standard Micro Grid, an American and Zambian-registered entity, will be the third contractor to be engaged on the project. The other contractors had their contracts terminated in March 2017 and April 2021 following failure to meet their obligations.
Luapula Member of Parliament Chanda Katotobwe cannot wait for the project to be completed.
But he understands the challenges involved.
“It’s not an easy area to expedite works,” he said. “But we are hoping they can accelerate the completion of the project. I understand only poles have been transported there and works are yet to commence.”
Mr Katotobwe also understands that once completed, the project will trigger a massive economic boost on the island district.
“We cannot downplay the importance of electricity in any locality,” he said.
As for Lunga District Commissioner Mathews Mwewa, the contractor is also exploring ways of involving the local community in the project.
“At the moment, nothing has been done apart from the transportation of the poles to the island. As you are aware, this is a hard-to-reach area and we are just calling on the authority to expedite this project because it is long overdue,” Mr Mwewa said.
According to REA, past contractors have mostly underestimated the scope of the project, leading to their failure to commence and complete works which include the construction of eight mini-grids on the island that has 18 marshes of land.
Once completed, the mini-grids are expected to directly benefit Lunga Basic School, Lunga Rural Health Centre, Lunga district offices, Chief Kasomalunga’s palace, the market and shops, churches, and over 880 households.
Not only that. As part of its mandate to electrify rural areas, Mr Chanda has disclosed that REA has engaged Technology Development and Advisory Unit (TDAU) of the University of Zambia to conduct a wind resource assessment for a possible wind and solar hybrid power generation plant in Lunga.
Mrs Mulenga has previously promised to ensure that posterity judges her board differently by seeing to it that the Lunga solar mini-grid project is implemented as soon as possible.
“There is nothing to show for here and you can see that the people really need electricity. This really gives us an opportunity to focus on delivering on the promises and on our mandate. We have a mandate to bring electricity here, and we are going to do it,” she said.
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