Stop The Fire Brigade Approach To Energy

It goes without saying that all the governments that we have had have not been able to address the energy needs of the country, not because there is no political will, but the absence of a constructive approach to the problem. All what the governments have focused on is the quick fix, and this has brought us where we are today. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that old infrastructure should be replaced to meet the ever-growing demand for electricity, especially in the face of a growing migration from the rural to urban communities. What our colony masters left us have been what is being recycled. Old and outdated equipment are being managed to provide electricity for a fast-growing population. Unfortunately, our leaders are being led to believe that the problem is with electricity theft. Who is his right mind will venture with a pole that has electricity 24/7, except that individual has a death wish. Ernest Bai Koroma came with the Karpowership to fulfill his 100 days promise to the people, and since then, efforts at enhancing the capacity of Bumbuna took back seat. Little attention was given to the encroachment taking place at Bumbuna. Today, the facility could barely provide 1 megawatt to the city (quoting Dr. Yumkella). As a result, the country now depends on the Karpowership for electricity supply to the capital – a fire brigade approach. Even with the supply from the ship, we are experiencing frequent fire outbreak, allegedly occasioned by power surge, a claim that EDSA has constantly denied, even when the evidence is pointing in that direction. But that is a matter for another day. His Excellency has been led to believe that his Ministers in the sector have not been performing, which is rather a far cry from the reality. How can you expect the leader of the sector to perform with outdated and dysfunctional equipment that are not fit for purpose? Even if the best expert on energy is appointed to run the Ministry, he will still fail if an overhaul is not done on the infrastructure. It is not magic. What you give it, is what you get from it. In this 21st century one will not expect an archaic system to solve the energy crisis that the country faces. There is need for a complete overhaul of the system. Transmission lines should be reviewed to meet the demand of the various communities, change of transformers to meet the requirements of communities, and purchase of new generators, rather than using the outdated ones. This can be done in phases, starting with a change of the generators, which is the most expensive part. Had there been a determined desire to address the energy sector, the area of quick fix should have been avoided. The amount of money spent on the Karpowership from the tenure of EBK to date is enough to have provided quality generators for the sector and address the transmission lines, and today we would be enjoying constant power supply and issues of power surge that would lead to fire outbreaks would have been avoided. Sacking of Ministers in the sector is not the solution. Government should face the reality and see what it can do to replace the outdated equipment with modern ones, address the encroachment at Bumbuna, deal with the transmission lines so as to evenly distribute the load, repair the current generators as a temporary measure until they are replaced, and reduce the dependence on Karpowership. Government should not wait until things get bad before acting. That is a fire brigade approach. Government should be proactive. Incidents of encroachment should be speedily addressed to avert a national crisis. Another looming crisis that is being toyed with is the encroachment at Guma dam. If serious action is not taken, the city’s water supply will be adversely affected soon.