Young Life in Freetown | Calaba Town Has Switched On the Lights
Calaba Town, or Kalba Tong as the community calls it, has been subject to power blackouts for years.
In, 2013, the small town was cut off for over 6
months, and most affected was the Mayenkineh area. But those dark days of frequent blackouts are now a thing of the past. The town is on a new grid, controlled by the national electricity distribution supply authority, which originated from the old national power authority.
Some of the community people and leaders said that constant power supply has enriched their lives.
Gone are the days when they had
to pay a thousand Leones (about 18 cents in the U.S. dollar) just to get their mobile phones charged at local charging centers.
Due to the shortage of power, their children hardly make good
grades because when night fell, homes went dark and the children were not able
to read their school notes. Chinese lamps were not reliable and poor parents were
not able to buy batteries for the lamps regularly, as they're quite expensive. Now there is constant electricity supply, they're certain that their children will start to make good grades, and families will no longer have to pay to get their mobile phones charged.
The people of Calaba town community hope this the lights are
on for good. They will also like to see improvements in healthcare, water supply,
roads, education, and more jobs.
For Young life in Freetown, I'm Inyilla Conteh reporting.
****At the state opening of Parliament in December 2015, President Koroma announced
that his administration aimed to provide 1000 megawatts by 2017 to increase
access to electricity.
He also said work on distribution networks in the western part of Freetown and the upgrade of primary networks in the eastern part has commenced.
These interventions were expected to extend access to electricity to underserved areas in Freetown, such as Pamuronkoh Calaba Town.
For Young life in Freetown, I'm Inyilla Conteh reporting.
****At the state opening of Parliament in December 2015, President Koroma announced
that his administration aimed to provide 1000 megawatts by 2017 to increase
access to electricity.He also said work on distribution networks in the western part of Freetown and the upgrade of primary networks in the eastern part has commenced.
These interventions were expected to extend access to electricity to underserved areas in Freetown, such as Pamuronkoh Calaba Town.
The government of Sierra Leone and Department for
International Development (DFID) signed an agreement to partner in the Energy
Africa Campaign in October 2015. This partnership will complement efforts to
expand large-scale energy infrastructure connecting people now, while they wait
for the grid to reach them.
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