* As Community Energy Malawi (CEM) commissions K1.3 million solar energy hub at Mzepa Primary School in Balaka
* There is a need to have universal access to energy by the year 2030
* We commend CEM and Scottish government for the intervention which is producing 125 KwH of electricity
By Joseph Story, MANA
Only 18% of Malawians have access to electricity and an officer in the Ministry of Energy, Alinafe Kasinja says there is need to increase interventions to enable more people to access it saying.
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Kasinja said this in Balaka on Wednesday during the commissioning of a K1.3 million solar energy hub at Mzepa Primary School installed by Community Energy Malawi (CEM), saying this is a step towards achieving the Ministry’s strategies and interventions to increase accessibility to electricity.
“Currently, very few people have access to electricity,” he said. “There is a need to have universal access to energy by the year 2030. Electricity is one of the energy forms we have and we commend CEM and Scottish government for the intervention which is producing 125 KwH of electricity.”
He further said government is ready to work with organisations who provide power in hard-to-reach areas as this will help in enhancing development.
Kasinja
In his remarks, District Commissioner, Darwin Mngoli said the Balaka’s weather is sunny and favourable for solar energy and therefore, commended CEM, saying their energy hub will help in improving education and irrigation system in the area, among others.
“This is a good development since we have seen that communities are utilising the hub by doing various businesses,” he said. “It is encouraging to see cold soft drinks being sold here.
“These businesses will help them move from poverty as well as increase their farming capacity as they can use the same power to do irrigation farming in their schemes.”
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CEM’s Balaka District coordinator, Louis Yona said the hub will help in developing the education sector, saying: “Our donor, the Scottish government, has granted us an extension of one year.
“So our main focus is connecting our schools, teachers houses as well as more shops following huge demand from people,” Yona said.
However, he said the current energy cannot connect maize millers and other houses apart from teachers houses as the hub only produces 125KwH of electricity.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy has warned the general public of scammers using their Facebook pages claiming that they are offering solar power grant in various social media platforms.
The warning comes following Facebook pages claiming to offer solar power grants to individuals in partnership with International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) as signed by the Ministry.
In an interview, Ministry of Energy’s public relation officer, Upile Kamoto said any page or platform claiming to be by the Ministry and offering such grants is a fake and designed to deceive the public.
“This issue is serious and the Ministry has already reported the fake page to cyber security authorities for immediate action and the law will punish everyone who is managing the page.
“We are advising that any information about Ministry of Energy is only available on our websites; www.energy.gov.mw and social media page that holds the Coat of Arm flag,” she said.
According to the statement that the Secretary for the Ministry of Energy, Alfonso Chikuni released on Wednesday, people should be vigilant and report to the police any suspicious activity related to this scam.
“We are encouraging the public to exercise caution when providing personal information online and to only engage with official page and accounts of government entities and agencies to avoid scammers, “said the statement.—Additional reporting by Mercy Nsaliwa, MANA
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