By Mustapha Sesay
Parliament has ratified a 5-megawatt solar electrification project agreement for Bo and Kenema in the southeast of the country.
The project which is estimated at $12million would be undertaken by a private Sierra Leonean owned company and it’s expected to be completed in May 2016. The project agreement, which was tabled in parliament by the Minister of Energy, when implemented would provide electricity for Bo and Kenema that have been without electricity for very long time.
The Minister of Energy Henry Macualay said the solar project would avert the problem of hydro power generation, citing the current crisis at the Bunbuna dam as an example of problems associated with hydro. He added that extensive research have been done to validate the project and revealed that the same project would be replicated in other parts of the country.
The Energy Minister noted that because government has proven not to be good business entity over the years, the energy sector has embarked on privatizing some of its operations but he noted that they were mindful of the local content policy and that that was why the Bo project was going to be undertaken by the Sierra Leonean company. He added that the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) was a local company too as against the rumour that it was a foreign company.
Rado Yokie, an opposition MP from Bo, said in as much as they were happy for the project they were also concerned about the fact the electrification project was going to be handled by a private company that would focus on maximizing profit; thus he said the issue of cost, consistence and sustainability should be adequately addressed in the agreement to ensure that the people in Bo and Kenema would not suffer as a result of bad agreement.
Another opposition lawmaker from Bo Mohamed Tholley said that they were proud of the project because it was clean energy but reiterated the same concern about access and affordability. He said Bo used to be an industrial town but he noted the continuous power outage has rendered that aspect of the second capital futile. He emphases that care should be taken to get a fair share of the agreement.
The speaker of parliament Sheku Dumbuya also pointed to the fact that quality and affordability was always paramount in utilities provision in a country.
In response to the concerns raised by the Southern MPs, the Energy Minister said based on the agreement 1 kilowatt would cost 17cents and that there were no plans to increase it.
Mr Macualay also informed the MPs that regular maintenance would be put in place when the project would have been completed and that the Ministry had set up a solar maintenance unit. He also spoke about the status of Dodo Dam, which has been the main source of electricity in that part of the country. He said it was currently under repair.
The minister then apologized to the parliamentarians for recurrent power outage across the capital of Freetown and attributed it to the ongoing maintenance work at the Bumbuna dam. He then pointed out that President Ernest Bai Koroma was concerned over affordability, reliability and predictability of energy supply across the country.
© Politico 14/05/15
