By: Precious Miracle Kargbo
In a vox pop interview conducted on 21st November 2023, citizens in Freetown have expressed their unduly concerns over the relatively high level and inefficient power supply of EDSA in Freetown for two consecutive weeks, that has led to so many destruction of properties in the capital city Freetown.
To start with, Sheka Bangura a resident at Brookfields, western Area urban outlined that EDSA has made no progress on their services as all they have cared about is the increment of tariff prices which they often made without any notices to the public but yet still they have accepted it and have been paying their dues without any complain. He continues that on several concerns, houses and structure have been burnt down all through the high voltage of electricity being powered by EDSA and have left so many people homeless and that is very dissatisfactory for any human being to go through.
Another concerned citizen Isatu (not her real name) identified that just last week she went out of her office and has switched all her appliances completely with the full knowledge but to the greatest dismay upon returning, the entire place was covered with smoke and she had to act quickly to shut down the meter.
Eventually she said the smoke ended and later found out that it was the current flowing from the meter which was so high and then causing the damage to the fuse box which led to the fire.
She continued that the only thing EDSA is concerned about is on raising taxes and tariffs, thereby making no efforts to reduce blackouts, brownouts or even this prevalent issue of high voltage that is destroying so many properties and assets of Sierra Leoneans. She also emphasizes that in countries where leaders prioritize their citizens’ well-being, higher taxes often translate into more efficient and improved public services so government should ensure that they monitor the operations of EDSA to the public as so many people are struggling at the time being.
Furthermore, a business vendor Daniel Turay also as a resident at Rokel from the eastern part of Freetown rants out frustration that over two weeks he has been unable to run his sport viewing center business as his television set that he uses to show games at the center all four of them have been burnt down by EDSA due to the high voltage that was sent.
Turay affirms that he has always been paying the EDSA charges as early and wondered why he is being treated this way pointing out that the least they deserve as citizens is to get the services they are paying for.
Abubakarr Kamara, a resident at Nicole street went out to recall that about two years ago, the Government of Sierra Leone decided to privatize the energy sector by transforming it from the National Power Authority (NPA) to become a private entity that was divided in to Electricity Generation and Transmission Corporation (EGTC) and EDSA all in a bid to have an improve service delivery in terms of electricity supply in the country. He highlighted that for the past two weeks they have been given poor services from EDSA as they barely have electricity late at night and it’s taken as soon as it is 8am and whenever it is being sent there are always complaint’s in the neighborhood of appliances been burnt or blown off.
“When they started operation two years ago, they understandably changed all postpaid meters inherited from NPA to Pre-paid meters in a bid to adequately generate funds for the smooth running of their operations but till date electricity problem in the country especially Freetown is still a big course for concern leaving the citizens to ponder whether EDSA is actually up to the task”, he intimated.
Meanwhile, several attempts have been made to reach out to EDSA and its administration but their responses even on mainstream media is that they are not to be blamed for the high voltage of Electricity, leaving the question and complaint unanswered for citizens .
Conclusively,Citizens all over the country have expressed their deepest frustration over the incompetent and disgraceful manner the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) is handling the electricity supply in the country especially in the capital city and are really craving on the indulgence of the government to question their operations and improve their services in the country in order to prevent the tragedies of properties and assets being destroyed.