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Siavonga District Commissioner, Geoffrey Jakopo, says the delayed electrification in most areas has retarded development in the district.
Jakopo said it was unfortunate that the district produced power but that it had been neglected in terms of electricity connections.
He said a number of investors were willing to invest in the district, in different sectors of the economy such as mining but that lack of electricity, especially the western part of the district had continued to be a challenge.
Read more : Rural electrification agency connects over 55,000 households, surpasses 22,000 target
Jakopo therefore called on the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) to accelerate the connection of some houses to electricity grid so that investors could tap in power and bring development in the area.
He said this recently when a team from REA paid a courtesy call on him.
“Investors such as Sebo Transports and some Chinese mining companies are ready to invest in the district but they were waiting for electricity,” he said.
Jakopo said people had been shunning the district because most of the rural school and health centers were not connected to electricity.
He said Siavonga would improve its status of being the second biggest tourism center in the country if most facilities could be connected to electricity.
“Most of the people have not benefit from the electricity since the time they pave way for the construction of the Kariba dam in 1958,” he said.
In response, REA Chief Executive Officer Linus Chanda, said over 500 houses had so far being connected to electricity grid in Siavonga district.
Chanda noted that under the Electricity Supply Access Project (ESAP) which was funded by the World Bank the authority connected 500 houses were connected.
He observed that the population in Siavonga had continued to grow therefore more houses still needs to be connected to the grid.
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