The NEWS (Monrovia)
13 March 2008
Monrovia — Vice President Joseph N. Boakai has extolled Ghana's participation through the Volta River Authority (VRA) in the restoration of electricity to some parts of Monrovia under the first phase of Emergency Power program (EPP-One).
He said Liberia's cooperation with Ghana goes beyond the work of the VRA in the restoration of power to Monrovia, adding "Ghana has stood with us in significant peacekeeping roles from the days of ECOWAS Peace Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) and to now UNMIL. Ghana continues to be a leader in our region in terms of exemplary governance and sound economic management."
Mr. Boakai noted that as Liberia moves to the full implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), the Liberian Government will refer to the best practices of Ghana that will assist in the reconstruction and national renewal agenda.
The Vice president made the assertion when he proxy for President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf at the official closing program to commemorate the Government of Ghana's participation in the Emergency Power Program at the head office of the Liberia Electricity Corporation at Old Kru Town, Monrovia.
"As we evolve the concept for the construction of the Mt. Coffee Hydro Plant and development of the 1000 mega watts potential of the St. Paul River through a St. Paul River Authority, the VRA along with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) of the United States are two models that will be excellent examples for us," Vice President Boakai noted.
He observed that the economic activities surrounding Lake Volta, the VRA storage reservoir, and other auxiliary business of the VRA have had tremendous impact on Ghana's economic development over the years and is worthy of emulation by Liberia.
"Thank you for this spirit of African brotherhood in assisting us in our hour of greatest need. We in Liberia are confident that this collaboration will open new doors of bilateral cooperation and set a new paradigm on international standards for brothers reaching brothers, and sisters extending a hand to sisters," the Liberian statesman added.
For his part, the Ghanaian Deputy Minister of Energy, Kwame Amporfo Twumasi on behalf of President John Agyekum Kufuor, thanked the government and people of Liberia for the opportunity given his government and the VRA to serve as the implementing agency for the EPP-I.
He said Ghana took the call to assist with electricity restoration to parts of Monrovia in keeping with President Johnson-Sirleaf's 150 days deliverables as a challenge in view of the tight and unprecedented schedule that they had to meet to deliver electricity within the time frame.
Mr. Twumasi, also a member of the Ghanaian parliament who led a Ghanaian delegation to the program, noted that Ghana took the project as a great opportunity to showcase and demonstrate to the world that Ghana has the expertise and the will to rise to the occasion, work together and assist their sister countries in development in their time of need.
"This project is a manifestation of the strong benefit and necessity of regional cooperation as manifested in the very active involvement of our two countries in ECOWAS. Our vision is embodied in our continuing desire to partnership with our sister countries in all aspects of social and economic development," the Ghanaian Deputy Energy Minister noted.
He asserted that VRA's work in Liberia comprised the procurement, design and installation of four diesel generating sets with total capacity of 3.3 mega watts, approximately 12km of medium voltage (11kv), and 23 km of low voltage (415v) distribution networks complete with streetlights and some customers' connections in Congo Town, Old Kru Town and Paynesville.
"We were also responsible for operations and maintenance support for six months in each location. The other partners were responsible for fuel, lubricants and other project components. We have also completed a specialized customized training program for selected LEC staff in various aspects of the power system operations," Mr. Twumasi added.
He said as the curtain is being drawn down on Ghana's participation in EPP-One, there were a few administrative and residual financial matters to be resolved with the European Union Delegation which was the contracting authority that pledged funding for the procurement of equipment and works under the project, adding "we trust that these would be settled without delay."
EPP-One is an initiative of the governments of Liberia, Ghana, the United States and the European Union providing electricity supply to parts of Monrovia since July 26, 2006.
Under the project, the Government of Ghana provided technical assistance through the Volta River Authority. The project was implemented by the VRA, Liberia Electricity Corporation and the United States Agency for International Development.
In brief welcome remarks, LEC Managing Director Harry T. Yuan highlighted the success of the project and disclosed that EPP-Two will be launched by mid this year.
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