By Crispina Cummings
The Minister of Energy, Oluniyi Robin-Coker has told the Parliamentary Energy Committee that "there will be sustainable light starting December this year".
The minister said the Bumbuna hydro-electric project was under "extra-ordinary maintenance" which he said should end this week. He said he had noted some time ago that "May and June” would be a difficult period for the generation of electricity because after the extra-ordinary maintenance, the Bumbuna plant would be shut down again for its annual maintenance exercise.
He said electricity was very expensive and as such the government would not spend all its money on it, noting however that the eastern part of Freetown gets light from their 7.25 megawatts machine at Blackhall road.
Robin-Coker disclosed that a private company called Blueflare "is working on an investment contract to partner with NPA with a $70 million investment in transformers".
The branch manager of SALINI Constructions, the Italian company undertaking maintenance work on the Bumbuna Hydro-electric plant, Graziano Carboni assured the MPs that the problems of the Bumbuna plant would be solved.
The General Manager of NPA, Zubairu Kalokoh told the Parliamentary Select Committee that "with or without light, NPA pays Le 600 million to the Bumbuna project weekly". Kalokoh said his company spent "Le 400 million a day on fuel for generators for people to have light".
He said they would work relentlessly with all parties to solve the electricity problem in the country.
