Government striving hard to stick to electricity pledge

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s post-war government is pulling out all the stops to keep her inauguration promise to restore electricity to the capital, Monrovia, by July after a decade and a half of darkness. Liberia, recovering from 14 years of on-off civil war, has been without public power since fighting began in the early 1990s, when its main hydro-dam on the Saint Paul River and electricity supply outlets were damaged and vital components looted. Even telegraph poles were made redundant as combatants cut down power cables for scrap. Restoring the system to full working order is likely to take three or four years and could cost US $200 million, according to the previous transitional government. So Liberia’s Electricity Corporation (LEC) is to initially lease four giant diesel generators from nearby Ghana to make sure that streetlights within a 12-mile radius of Monrovia can be switched on before 26 July, Liberian Independence Day. “The generators will be distributed to LEC major sub-stations and will definitely supply electricity to Monrovia on or before July 26 this year,” said Harry Yuan, head of LEC. The European Union, a major donor towards Liberia’s recovery since fighting stopped in 2003, has already illuminated some of the city’s street lamps using private generators. The project is “an emergency measure for an emergency situation,” according to EU head, Geoffrey Rudd. “The street light project enhances safety at night… it ensures visibility at night to protect drivers and pedestrians, as well as helps prevent theft from homes and businesses and attacks on individuals.” But President Sirleaf warned the nation in a live phone-in radio programme last week that not all parts of Monrovia will be lit by July. “This is an effort that the government cannot do all by itself and we need the assistance of our development partners in that regard, and gradually we are making progress by talking to them to see how they too can help,” Sirleaf said. According to Yuan the solution lies with the private sector. “Our vision is a liberalised electricity sector setting the pace with efficiency and accountability in the market place among the independent power producers,” said Yuan. Previous attempts by the former power-sharing transitional government to open tenders inviting private companies to bid to restore independent power supply to Monrovia failed. But Yuan blamed those attempts on “lack of political will”. The government has already established a ministerial Special Executive Committee on Electricity to find technical and donor assistance to restore public power, including the EU. Those with US $100 or so to spare have not waited for a government solution but bought a “Tiger” instead - the brand name of a locally popular petrol mini-generator that provides enough power for a fridge and a few lightbulbs. But Monrovia's poor and unemployed majority have to make do with paraffin lamps and candles.