Black outs hit shop owners hard

While big supermarkets have backup generators to use when there is a black out, some grocery shops are feeling the pinch since they cannot store enough perishables such as milk, meat, fish as well as fruits.

Recently, the Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi (Escom) announced massive load shedding because of low water levels in Lake Malawi.

While Escom has advised big producers to take advantage of periods when there is less demand for energy to produce, shop owners are finding it difficult to keep perishables resulting in some products going bad.

In random interviews on Wednesday in Lilongwe, some shop owners complained that they are making huge losses because products such as milk easily go bad when there is a black out spanning over five hours.

Peacock Supermarket supervisor Mathews Gabriel said some customers have refused to buy milk, fish or meat fearing that the products have gone bad.

“With regular power failures, it is hard to sell perishables. Again, when there is a blackout, some customers take advantage of the darkness to steal,” said Gabriel.

Similarly, Omair Supperette supervisor Imran Aboo said they have reduced orders for fresh products because recently they had to throw away bad products.

“By reducing the orders for fresh products, we are losing business and our customers are being disappointed. It is our prayer that something is done to solve this problem fast,” said Aboo.

Branch manager for Chipiku Supermarket Jaysinh Babariya and Sana Cash and Carry director Rauf Chaudrey said they are not being affected in that way because they have backup generators.

“We cannot say we are losing perishables because once there is a black out, back-up power automatically switches on. Our main problem is that we have to cough more to pay for diesel, but we have no option,” said Babariya.

Minister of Energy, Mining and Natural Resources Bright Msaka recently told the media that the country does not have enough energy sources and that there is need for more investors to venture into  the energy sector for black outs to be dealt with once and for all.