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Mr Chideme

Bianca Leboho Herald Reporter
Continuous theft of solar lamp batteries had delayed the installation of solar lights along the Airport Road in Harare as we all as in the central business district (CBD), a council official has said.

However, the installation process has started after Harare City Council instituted measures to protect the batteries.

Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme said the authority lost 52 batteries from theft, prompting the council to remove all 588 solar light batteries along the Airport Road as a measure to secure them.

“We were drawn back by theft which is why we removed all the batteries from the solar street lights along the Airport Road.

“We can now safely say we have reconstructed battery boxes to ensure that the batteries are safe and secure from thieves and vandals,” said Mr Chideme.

He said the solar street lights, especially those along the Airport Road were not up to par in terms of their quality because of flooding from the drainage system that affected the installation sites and moisture among other problems.

“We have tried to solve the issues that affected the standard functioning of the solar street lights to ensure their durability,” said Mr Chideme.

Primedia, the contractor responsible for installing the solar street lights along Airport Road said it should have completed the installation process along the road by end of this month as previously agreed on.

Solar street lights have currently been installed along Airport Road and Robert Mugabe Way among other roads.

Samora Machel Avenue is also undergoing the solar street lights installation as the local authority aims to install 10 000 solar street lights in Harare by the end of 2016.

The use of solar power as a source of street lighting is expected to reduce the local authority’s electricity bill.