By Mohamed Jalloh
Freetown and its adjacent environs have experienced intermittent power supply since the inception of the Bio- led Government.
A press release from the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) cited the age old excuse of water shortage during the dry season coupled with debts accrued to the Electricity Generation and Transmission Company (EGTC).
Lack of electricity has been and still remains an impediment to economic growth and stability. As the new government grapples with the situation, businesses around town have resorted to smoke smoldering generators in order to make amends for the lack of EDSA produced power.
According to the UNDP Country Director only 15% of the population has access to electricity despite the huge resources expended in the sector over the last ten years by the APC government.
Citizens in every corner of the country deserve access to electricity as was seen in the fiasco to forcefully transfer a thermal generator machine from Kono to Bo. The prepaid meter system has instilled certain belief in many people that once you have bought your credit it is an inalienable right to have access to uninterrupted electricity as with the case with mobile phone top-up.
The clarion call here is until and unless we are able to provide our own solutions to our problems we shall remain underdeveloped and the myth of electric power being the “missing link” will persist.
The main reason why we don’t have electricity lies in the fact that we lack the ability to produce it even though the country has abundant natural sources of power to develop but they are grossly underutilized.
Governments have come and gone but we are still unable to significantly improve the power situation across the country. Rather than expand our energies on acquiring the capabilities, governments go for the shortcut as we always rely on others to provide the basics for us.
The process of acquiring these capabilities is long and painful, but in the final analysis it is the long lasting means to achieve development. The Kapowership from Turkey that currently berths in our waters close to Government Wharf is a typical example of a quick fix solution.
The rise of science and technology gave birth to the industrial revolution which in turn gave birth to electrical power. Sources of power till date include wind, steam power, solar and harnessing water as is the case with Bumbuna Hydro.
Government efforts must also be directed to improve the national transmission infrastructure by upgrading and strengthening the dilapidated distribution network.
President Bio must tap on the experience and expertise of Dr Kandeh Yumkella on renewable and sustainable means of generating electricity even though he might not be credited as was the case with the Bankasoka Power Project in Port Loko. Innovative Sierra Leoneans are plenty.
Take, for instance, Kelvin Doe, who developed a generator from heap and scrap and another technologically savvy pupil from the Albert Academy called Brima Denkeh, who also made a generator and operated it without any fuel. The young boy switches the environmentally friendly machine on and off by dialing the Africell number on his phone. What a piece of magic!
In previous times people would have concluded that this is pure witchcraft. In progressive countries the private sector would have come in and establish a patent right on the ingenuity of these innovations thereby creating a market value for the product which will eventually be exported to different parts of the world.
The Bio led government must commit to a programme that provides the enabling environment for Science and Technology to thrive so that these boys will realize their full potentials. But sadly enough, after the appointment of all cabinet positions, the Ministry of Education has been restructured omitting the Science and Technology aspect.
The president must keep in mind that one of the reasons why Dramani Mahama spent only a single term as the president of Ghana was the giant power short falls popularly dubbed “dumsor”.