By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
ZESCO limited has lost over K1.6 million to vandalism in the first quarter of this year, company Public Relations Manager Hazel Zulu has said.
Ms Zulu said the company recorded a total of 261 cases of vandalism in the first quarter worth K1, 657,267.03.
She explained that the highest number of incidences were recorded on the Copperbelt, Southern, North-Western and Lusaka provinces.
“The most vandalised items were Transmission towers, transformers and copper cables (overhead service and underground cables),” Ms Zulu said in a statement yesterday.
Ms Zulu complained that the corporation was saddened by the development as it was detrimental to the development of the energy sector and the country at large.
She stressed that electrical equipment involved huge amounts of money and investment and that any acts of vandalism was retrogressive.
“We therefore want to send a stern warning to perpetrators of such vices that Zesco will not relent in ensuring that the culprits are arrested and brought to book,” Ms Zulu said.
Ms Zulu encouraged the public to join the fight against vandalism and report any such acts to the police service to ensure that the institution continued to provide sufficient and quality electricity to all its citizens.
She also said Zesco recorded a total of 47 arrests in the first quarter of this year.
“In addition, the corporation successfully secured 12 convictions while 41 cases are still active in the Courts of Law.
“As a Corporation, we remain committed to ensuring that we ‘make it easy for people to live a better life’ as we continue to work vigorously to bring these vile acts to a halt,” Ms Zulu said.
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