Maputo, 2 Mar (AIM) – Mozambique’s publicly-owned electricity company, EDM, has recorded losses of about 50 million meticais (about 781,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate) due to the heavy rains and flooding that struck much of the country last month.
According to a document made public on Wednesday by EDM, about 30,000 customers were left without electricity following the flooding in parts of southern and central Mozambique.
“In Boane district and Maputo city, the most affected areas in southern Mozambique, there are about 4,200 families still without electricity due to network breakdowns and cuts”, said the EDM document. It added that the flood waters and tropical cyclone Freddy brought down 80 medium voltage pylons along eight kilometres of electricity transmission line.
Due to the passage of the cyclone last Friday, says the document, about 130,000 customers in the provinces of Maputo, Manica and Sofala were left without electricity.
“The Costa do Sol, Zimpeto and Marracuene substations, in Maputo city and province of Maputo, were out of service, affecting customers in the Maputo neighbourhoods of Zimpeto and Magoanine and all neighbourhoods in Marracuene district. However, by the end of the day on Wednesday, the power supply had already been restored to these neighbourhoods”, EDM said.
However, 30,000 customers from the town of Mafambisse and from Gorongosa district, in Sofala provine, as well as customers from Inchope town, in the neighbouring province of Manica, were still without power.
At this moment, several EDM technical teams are on the ground, aiming to restore the normal supply of electricity to the affected areas as quickly as possible.
However, EDM reports that the floods caused by Cyclone Freddy have caused major obstacles and inaccessibility of some locations, which contribute to the delay in restoring power.
It points out that for safety reasons, in some areas, preventive power cuts are due to the flooding of Transformer Post (PT) and other electrical equipment that, when turned on, can endanger human life.
For this reason, EDM appeals to the observance of preventive measures, especially in the vicinity of equipment that carries electrical current.
(AIM)
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