Zimbabwe's second City looks to make massive savings on street lighting

Zimbabwe's second City looks to make massive savings on street lighting
ZDDT assists Bulawayo in testing out new technologies that could cut the city's street lighting bill by 88%

Pics: 1) The new street light bulb being trialled in Bulawayo 2) The test unit (left) alongside the old 3) Cllr Edward Manning poses at the test site 4) Newspaper vendor, Mr Masotsha plies his trade in the vicinity of the test site.



BULAWAYO – As a start to an exciting new development in Zimbabwe's second city - Bulawayo - cutting edge lighting technology was recently put on test at a site in the city where pedestrian activity is particularly dense.

This technology consists of LED lighting units that are cost effective and energy efficient meeting the objectives of the City of Bulawayo’s energy saving policy.

Effectively, power consumption will be reduced by 88% and lighting intensity increased by 20%. With a bulb life span exceeding 25 years, the investment is well worthwhile as a full return on cost is achieved within 3 years. Ultimately, the carbon footprint of the city will be reduced significantly.

Harare based consultant and manufacturer, Alternative Energy Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd, (AEC), supplied one of these units to the City of Bulawayo, free of charge, for purposes of testing. The test unit was installed alongside an old style lighting component, at the busy Lobengula Street Pedestrian Mall that doubles as a vending market. This was specifically done in order to allow effective comparison between the two systems.

Field Correspondent, Lewis Jones, recently visited the site as a means of sounding out the opinions of shop owners and vendors in the vicinity as well as those from passers-by.

Commenting about the new lighting technology, clothing store owner, George Batty remarked; “The new unit gives off a satisfactory bright glow. The additional and constant light source may certainly act as a deterrent to would be burglars besides generally enhancing security in the area.”

Newspaper vendor Chris Masotsha made the following comment: “The old lights wore out so quickly and often remained unattended for lengthy periods, making it difficult for vendors to catch the evening rush-hour business, particular during these winter months. Maybe with this new system our prospects will be better.”

A passer-by, Given Ncube, remarked; “I usually get home early. But I imagine that, with the installation of this new system, those who leave work late in the evening will feel safer when passing through this place.”

Cllr. Edward Manning of Ward One, the test site’s location, feels that the new lighting technology will be a boost for the neighbourhood’s leisure activities besides providing increased security for those who do business in the area and saving the hard pressed ratepayer a lot of money on the ZESA bill. “It will certainly improve security for business people and their customers,” he said. The Councillor added; “With this constant light source, the many impromptu drama and comedy groups who perform here will have more time to entertain the public, from whom they receive various amounts of cash as tokens of appreciation. In addition, it is bound to add value to the area as a whole.”

The City of Bulawayo is testing this technology with a view to initial installation along two of its busiest thoroughfares, extending eventually to wider areas of the city.

ZDDT takes pride in the active role it has played by providing the linkage to bring together the City of Bulawayo and AEC in this essential partnership and for availing its well visited website in promotion of such progressive developments.