By Moses M. Tokpah, mosesmtokpah@gmail.com
KAKATA, Liberia- Today in one of Liberia’s city in the hinterland nearly 73 miles from Monrovia, Kakata, residents can now boast of their crossroad city being lit up with street lights.
Kakata, the Capital City of Margibi County was on Saturday night April 11, 2020 lighted for the first time in 30 years under the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) World Bank funded Liberia Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project (LACEEP).
Kakata with the population of 88,704 in habitants has been without a sustainable electricity supply since 1990, when the City was cut off from the Mount Coffee Hydropower Plant during the Liberian civil war, amidst fierce-gun battle between belligerent forces of Charles Taylor’s defunct National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) and the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under the command of the late President Samuel Kanyon Doe.
The LEC and the Indian MBH Power firm took more than three years to install and connect major streets and homes in Kakata as well as built the electricity substation grid in Todee District, Montserrado County and connect to the Paynesville power grid.
The return of electricity to Kakata City has triggered huge excitement amongst residents from across the city. Those who spoke with newsman have described the process as a new beginning in the development of the County.
“Yesterday I was surprised to see electricity from Morris’s Farm in Todee District up to Vai Town Community in Kakata which we have not seen for about 30 years now; this is a big boost to our economy and thanks to both the past Unity Party-Led Government and Pres. Weah CDC-led Government for achieving this dream,” Emmett Harmon, a foreign money exchanger in Kakata said.
Mr. Harmon wants residents of Kakata to help protect the electricity facility and avoid tempering with these high-tension lines that are extremely dangerous to temper with.
Anthony Mulbah Jallah, an educator, termed the installation of the electricity to Kakata as a promised fulfilled for the youthful generation in this part of the Country that have not had the opportunity to experience electricity in their life time.
“The coming of electricity to Kakata means a boost to our economy; it means a guarantee to our security and a joy to our people” Mr. Jallah added.
Mr. Jallah however, craved the management of the Liberia Electricity Corporation and the Indian MBH Power firm to institute measures that would prevent people from stealing power, thus serving revenues for the government.
At the same time, Margibi County Superintendent Jerry Varnie, while on an assessment tour of the light poles which is initially being lit up in major streets of Kakata, said the citizens of the County are delighted for the return of electricity to Kakata after 30 years, when power left this part of the country.
He praised the Liberian Government and the World Bank for extending electricity to the people of Margibi County, terming the initiative as ‘welcoming and timely’, especially when inhabitants of the County are observing a 14-day stay home order when electricity is so essential to keep the people home.
“The coming of the electricity to Margibi County has a lot of social and economic benefits. As operators of our health centers and other businesses have been complaining over the lack of affordable power supply to support the full functioning of their institutions, it’s all now an issue of the past,” Superintendent Varnie asserted.
The Margibi County Superintendent said despite the huge excitement from the inhabitants over the return of electricity to Kakata City, the safety of these electricity materials depends on them.
He then urged everyone to take ownership of the electricity facility and ensure that it is secured.