By Hasbin Shaw in Freetown, Sierra Leone
The Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) is at the center of power outage controversy as residents of Freetown accuse the Company of sabotaging the government of President Julius Maada Bio due to intermittent electricity supply.
According to the residents, they have been getting irregular electricity supply in the Capital of Freetown since Julius Maaada Bio was elected as president of the Country.
Ibrihim Bangura, is a resident of Kissy community in Freetown, said that many days have passed without having light and it started the night after the oath of office was administered to President Bio and Vice President Juldeh Jaalloh.
Bangura further noted that in recent days the community has experienced low voltage of supply and also the current continues to fluctuate, which may cause problem to their electrical appliances.
The question most citizens are asking is why EDSA would do things like this when it operates as a private entity. Some are residents are wondering whether the Company serves the country or a political party. One resident noted that if a thing like this is happening, one would definitely surmise EDSA serving the APC government with which the company got its contract to operate in Sierra Leone.
“I believe this is the time we should come together as one people to help make Sierra Leone a better nation, but if we continue to live in a system like this, we will forever remain the undeveloped country that we are,” Banguara added.
Kadiatu Koroma, who resides in the Brima Lane community said, “The light issue is systematically becoming a problem for all of us, even though I am an APC supporter, but am not happy with this situation because I am benefits a lot from the light. Without light, I cannot do my business.
“We have suffered this few days due to On and Off supply we are having from EDSA and also my children that are presently taking the WASSCE Exams complained that they struggle to study due to scarcity of light,” she said.
The Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) in a public notice on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 said that, “EDSA wishes to inform the general public that the generation capacity of Bumbuna Hydro Power Dam has dropped from 45MW to 8MW due to massive drop in water level.”
Also ADDAX that used to produce and supply EDSA 12 Mega Watts of electricity has ceased operations for the time being due to technical problem according to the Management of ADDAX.
This situation has caused instability in the power supply and thus posed a huge challenge to the provision of electricity supply in the Western area.
The authority therefore apologizes to its numerous customers for any inconvenience caused and endeavor to do it utmost to improve the power supply in the shortest possible time.
