Parliamentary Committee on NRCC demands PML, ESCOM co-existence

The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate (NRCC) has said it would benefit Malawians if the unbundling of ESCOM that saw the registration of Power Market Limited Company (PML) as a company be respected for its planned objectives to be realized.

Chairperson of the committee Welani Chilenga, made these remarks on Friday at Sunbird Livingstonia in Salima during an interface with PML.

“The National Assembly will debate on this matter and give direction. The acts by ESCOM will thwart the vision of the president to attain 1000 megawatts by 2023. The Attorney General advised that ESCOM is illegally holding two licenses and must not cling to single buyer, we will make sure that ESCOM complies with the law,” he said.

The parliamentary committee, had met ESCOM officials last week Saturday [22 January] in a similar platform, where ESCOM complained that taking away PML will cripple its financial muscles.

PML’s Chief Executive Officer, Rosemary Mkandawire has retaliated on the need for the country to embrace a single buyer in order to encourage investments and bring in efficiency in the energy sector.

“If PML does its job well, we will help in producing more power, it’s very important and relevant because the country will see more investments in the energy sector and industries booming leading to our youth having jobs. We hope stakeholder engagements will create a better understanding, so that there should not be any misinformation over the existence of PML to fast track development,” she said.