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She said AC Controls had done projects that were far bigger than the Mtshabezi water project and had always been confident that they would deliver.
Mrs Makumbinde said AC Controls had finished construction of the power line that would bring electricity from Gwanda to Mtshabezi, adding that the use of the diesel generators could be stopped in March.
“The major component holding the complete electrification of the Mtshabezi project are centre rotating isolators for the sub station, which we expect to get towards the end of February. If all goes according to plan, we should be connecting power in March,” she said.
No comment could be obtained from the Minister of Water Resources Management and Development, Dr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo as he was not reachable on his mobile phone.
AC Controls made headlines last year when Dr Sipepa Nkomo announced the company had been fired from the Mtshabezi project for alleged incompetence and sabotage.
Mrs Makumbinde denied the charge at the time.
Minister Nkomo claimed that the new engineers had moved in and completed in one day what AC Controls failed to do in more than two months.
But Mrs Makumbinde said the process of synchronising the generators was delicate and time consuming as it involved joining several wires.
She said at the time AC Controls was asked to make way for new engineers, their engineers on the ground were nearly completing the synchronisation.
Mrs Makumbinde said their engineers never sabotaged the project and they had fully co-operated with the new firm that the authorities had contracted to replace AC Controls.
AC Controls, a wholly owned indigenous Zimbabwean company, specialises in electro-mechanical engineering solutions which include standby power systems, power factor correction, designing, installing and maintaining power systems and instrumentation among others.
derick.khumalo