By Austine Luseni
Alhaji Kanja Sesay, Minister of Energy on Monday July 27, 2020, has on his return to the Bathurst community in the Western Rural District, fulfilled President Bio’s promise of electrifying the community by presenting two brand new transformers. On Saturday 13th June 2020, the Minister was at Bathurst to relay the promise of President Bio to the people and to assure them that before the expiration of July this year, he as the messenger of such a promise would make good on it.
While receiving the delegation amidst a collective feeling of frenzied joy and an assuring sense of relief, the Village Head for Bathurst Community, Theophilus Johnson, described the occasion as an historic and a red lettered day in the history of the community. He noted with umbrage and disillusionment the fact that the community had gone for over 200 years without electricity, adding that President Bio is a trailblazing President.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Energy, Alhaji Kanja Sesay, described himself as a ‘Messenger of President Bio for Energy’, adding that the President was never happy when he learnt that Bathurst Community had gone for over 200 years without electricity. He reaffirmed the President’s commitment to fulfil promises as well as his genuine quest to ensure that this 2020 is a year of outstanding delivery.
The Minister stated that the last time he visited the community he made three promises which include the preparation of the sites for the installation of the transformers, the presentation of two transformers and the subsequent lighting up of the community. He went further to say that since the sites had been prepared already, he was there to deliver the two brand new transformers with the capacities of 1000kva and 100kva respectively. He stressed that since his appointment as Minister of Energy, the 1000kva he is presenting to Bathurst is the biggest he had ever delivered to any community.
He assured the community of quality and sustainable electricity, noting that the engineers would spend some days doing the necessary connections, but that once those connections were done, he would make a dramatic and satisfying return to turn on the transformers for the supply of electricity in the community. He praised the Ministry of Finance for the support given to the project while also extolling the contributions of Presidential Adviser, Madam Kona Koroma and the Gender and Children’s Affairs Minister, Madam Manty Tarawally.
Kanja Sesay concluded by making a clarion call to the community to own and protect the transformers while narrating some bitter tales he had heard of the deliberate destruction of transformers by mischief makers and anti-establishmentarians in certain communities.
The Minister was accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr. Eldred Taylor, Presidential Adviser Madam Kona Koroma, Minister of Gender Manty Tarawally, Director-General EDSA Dr. Joe Lahai and the Board Chairman of EDSA Ing. Alhajie Sidi.
The Bathurst Community is now relishing the prospects of enjoying sustainable and quality electricity supply, and such an expectation is not unrealistic as the Energy Minister has established himself as a gentleman who never renege on promises.
