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Abu Kamara, the Director General of the Electricity Distribution Supply Authority (EDSA), has explained the reasons for power outages across the country.
In an interview with Sarah Kallay’s Blog, Kamara cited structural shedding caused by changes in weather and negative human interference as the primary causes.
Kamara further elaborated that power outages and shedding are a common occurrence during the dry season in Sierra Leone, as the reduced water levels of the Bumbuna hydro dam – the main source of electricity for Freetown and its environs – make it difficult to meet the increased demand for electricity.
To address this challenge, Kamara mentioned that EDSA has partnered with the Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea (CLSG) Electricity Networks Interconnection Project. However, human interference – such as electricity theft, cutting of cables, logging activities, and deliberate sabotage – has made the challenge even more daunting.
During a conversation with the Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, Kamara stressed the need for public cooperation in addressing these issues, including not harboring neighborhood mayhem causers.
He also pointed out that electricity theft alone results in the loss of billions of leones in revenue every month.
Despite these challenges, both Kamara and Sesay assured the public that the cleaning of the turbines of the Bumbuna hydro dam, which will last for eight days, will increase electricity generation to normal levels and reduce shedding drastically. As a result, normal power supply is expected to resume by mid-May.
Those whose actions took us to where we are today in our development strive, are the same people turning round to ask, “why persistent power outages” to appear as if they are innocent about their devilish actions. “God go hammer them”