Moyamba Town, Moyamba District, Southern Sierra Leone, Tuesday, February 23, 2021————Sierra Leone’s Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, has officially returned to Moyamba seven months after he signed the Moyamba Township Electrification Project to deliver the first consignment of concrete poles and to assure residents of the commitment of the New Direction Government to completing the project.
Receiving and welcoming the Minister and his team on behalf of stakeholders and residents, Paramount Chief of Kayamba Chiefdom, Moyamba District, PC Foday Momoh Gulama, said the people of Moyamba were honoured to play host to the Minister and his team, especially on such a historic occasion. He said they were appreciative of the efforts of President Julius Maada Bio to transform Moyamba and to connect the town to the national grid.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony, the Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, said that he had a soft spot for Moyamba, adding that it was always a pleasure for him to visit the district. He said he was in Moyamba to fulfil the campaign promises of President Julius Maada Bio, noting that on one of the President’s campaign visits, stakeholders had drawn his attention to the fact that Moyamba had gone for over forty years without electricity.
Alhaji Kanja Sesay said that he inherited a sector that was in a very bad state or shape. He described energy as capital intensive, stressing that it was always going to be difficult for the government to urgently address electricity concerns. Mr. Sesay however said that the seven townships electrification project was unique principally because it was a project that was exclusively funded by the Government of Sierra Leone.
The Minister of Energy went on to say that he was in Moyamba to deliver the first consignment of concrete poles for the process of erection to start, with the design and excavation stages having been already completed. He said Moyamba was lucky because the World Bank had assured the Ministry of Energy that they were interested in the generation component of the project.
He urged the people to continue showing patience and understanding and assured that contractors had told him that the Moyamba project would be completed before similar projects in other district headquarter towns.
Member of Parliament for Constituency 096, Moyamba district, Hon. Samuel Fefegula, said he was pleased to witness the ceremony. He highlighted the strategic and historical importance of Moyamba, adding that there were mini-grids in the district and assured that the electrification of the town would trigger an economic boom in the district.
Project Manager for ABBI Associates, Senthil Kumaran, who spoke on behalf of the company doing the work, catalogued the components of the project and informed that they had been working on the project for the past one month. He said erection would soon start and assured that work on the substations would equally commence in the next couple of weeks.
The delegation from the Ministry of Energy included but not limited to the Deputy Minister of Energy, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, and the Director General and the Deputy Director General-EDSA.
The Moyamba District Council Chairman, Joseph Mboga and Madam Kadie Lassayo also spoke at the ceremony.
The energy sector reforms continue.
By:Austine Luseni
Communications Specialist
Ministry of Energy
Contact: 077377042/034157390
