By Ibraheem Daramy
When the old National Power Authority (NPA) was unbundled about fifteen years ago, those who oversaw the process probably thought they had nipped all the problems in the bud. The Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) and the Electricity Generation and Transmission Company (EGTC) were products of that exercise.
As their names imply, the former deals directly with customers, while the latter is responsible for ensuring that the transmission lines are powered. The public was not adequately briefed about the intention behind the restructuring, which was primarily to promote efficiency. Instead, many people thought the vital utility had been privatised.
It was around this time, among other things, that I had to address an existing vacuum at the Makeni power station. Even though I was not asked to do so and had no authority to assume the role, I became their Public Relations Officer (PRO) until one was eventually hired. I had to explain to the public that, notwithstanding the administrative changes made to the utility, the source of staff remuneration remained the same.
When the Bumbuna Hydro Power Plant was at its inception, there was a clause stipulating that, once completed, the host community would benefit from electricity at no cost whatsoever. It took a bold step by members of the community before they were finally connected.
During the reign of Ernest Bai Koroma, they threatened to occupy the main road leading to their community and the dam site. They eventually had their way, but they still had to pay for the electricity. According to the authorities, the community had already opened itself up to big businesses, including banks and others.
The authorities’ idea of the host community, however, was a small village with just a few houses. It took more than half a century before any turbine was heard rolling.
In the shelves of the Ministry of Energy, I suppose, there are countless documents detailing our hydroelectricity potential. I wouldn’t know why these blueprints are still gathering dust there.
Our rainfall is so predictable that one can clear a plot of land and almost correctly forecast when to expect the next downpour. Sometimes I wonder why our engineers would allow this invaluable natural resource to find its way into the Atlantic Ocean, year in and year out.
The whole nation is placed on avoidable alert during the peak of every rainy season because of the volume of water. Yet, ironically, you will find communities that were inundated by water just a few months earlier living as though they had never experienced a single drop.
Young people will be all over the place in their quest to scoop water from every wet surface.
We are currently paying for the electricity we receive through the Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (CLSG) transmission line. At the main power station in Kenema, there are two separate meters installed to calculate what is transmitted and what is consumed.
For us in Sierra Leone, we are importers, while Côte d’Ivoire is the exporter. This simply means that our West African counterpart is selling its excess electricity to us.
While our authorities appear to be overlooking this development enabler, rogue elements in the mining sector continue to contaminate our water bodies. I am afraid that, to avoid further damage, the authorities will have to energise the communities along the CLSG line now.
I remember residents of Kamakwie, in the Karene District, being forced to resort to unorthodox means to stop the vandalism of their electricity infrastructure.
The people of Makeni were told to wait for the second phase after the completion of the first phase of the transmission lines. But when they realised that the wait was becoming an eternity, they took it upon themselves to have their bulbs lit.
Somehow, the quality of service during those early days was manageable—until the expansion reached a point where there was no stopping it.
It later became obvious that the area covered by the people’s contributions was becoming much larger than the area where the government had installed electricity infrastructure.
With an ageing network and substations, it was only a matter of time before the people started experiencing a decline in the quality of service.
According to some engineers I spoke to at EDSA, the current electricity infrastructure in the northern regional capital has been overdue for an overhaul and expansion for almost eight years.
So, let’s just say it has been on life support for two years short of a decade.
One community in Makeni even formally approached an EDSA engineer and told him about their intention to procure a transformer for the community. They said the electricity supply was so poor that they could not even charge their phones.
The engineer politely stood them down, explaining that they did not have the mandate to do so. He advised them to forward their request to the Director General (DG) in the capital, Freetown.
This is just one indication of how bad the electricity situation really is for these people.
I can guarantee you there have been moments when engineers in Makeni were forced to involve stakeholders because they did not have all the answers. Sometimes, they would have to seek an audience at the District or Provincial Security Committee meetings.
Thankfully, however, all the engineers so far have proved worthy of their tours of duty. The people of Makeni could not have asked for more.
daramyibraheem@gmail.com
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