Red Black Nonsense - Taal len lampa yi wai

You see friends, over 200 years ago, a journey began with the creation of the Systéme International d'Unités (SI)  by French physicist Andrè-Maire Ampére whose last name is one of the most prominent for any person interested in Science and most importantly Physics. This journey which started then was one which saw the creation, dumping and recreation of ideas and concepts, theories and formulae that would eventually lead to the production and eventual commercial use of what we call electricity. It must however be realised that the research and steps of development that led to the harnessing of energy for electricity happened with the collective collaboration of researchers, governments and entrepreneurs; each playing their own part in the game of discovery and development.

Over 200 years of ongoing research has led to what scientists and researchers in the developed world will hate to call “the war of ethics Vs. Money”. The capitalization of the “M” in money is deliberate for we now live in a world where Money rules taller than ethics. Whether or not green energy is sustainable has stopped being the question. Even though many will debate on the stability and efficiency of “green energy” no one will dispute the fact of its effectiveness in getting the job done. However, pause for a minute; slow down and watch the lights as you cross over into the Mamaland. Oh wait! There are no lights!! We’re in a tunnel and again...NO LIGHTS...Try finding any sort of inspiration to think clearly in pitch darkness. At least, when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb (and don’t even start with the debate on who invented the light bulb) he “stood on the shoulders of giants” before him. These giants upon noticing the energy of the naturally occurring lightning developed ideas to produce our own form of energy. In our dark tunnel however, on whose shoulders must we stand?

This battle to consistent, efficient power supply has been unending. It’s a rough road wrought with potholes and ditches. It is almost as if we do not see the damage it does to our development. I have heard stories of our grandparents and parents studying under street lights in the capital city Banjul. I remember very clearly when we would sit around the kerosene lamps, breathing in the unhealthy kerosene smoke in summer’s heat as my sisters, cousins and I played games in the living room. It was GUC then I think that was doing the damage. Whilst the world was seeking to produce cleaner energy, we had gotten so used to power cuts (better known as blackouts) that we would clap and dance whenever the power came back on. It was a joy to behold; a rare occurrence; an atrocity.

Now years past, generations gone and names changed, we have a Hitler in a Jewish skullcap; killing off businesses indiscriminately, massacring electronic and electrical devices in its concentration camps. It gets better and then...yes...it gets worse. Now I have a belief, a really strong one, that our development as a nation lies solely in our hands. We have allowed ourselves too long to believe we must be saved by some foreign prophet...some white beard hoarding, stick carrying, sea parting prophet. The truth is, even if that man did come to save Africa from this “darkness” we call a continent, he would have to see his way around to do anything worth doing. Our energy supply needs to be the shoulder on which every other form of development rests on. How in heaven we expect to achieve the bold visions we all have (government and private) without constant, affordable electricity is baffling.

I came home four years ago and with me came a HDTV screen as big as the Independence Stadium (Ok I exaggerate a little) but I believe it lasted a few months before NAWEC did the damage. Almost every electrical device in the house, from the deep freezer, to the refrigerator, to the dvd player, to the internet bridge, to the wireless router, to....yes....the TV went on a vacation to hell. What can only be called a lifetime investment went away within seconds and as a family we could do NOTHING about it. How many families have similar stories? It has become an accepted fact that at least once a year, you would have to replace some of your electrical appliances. That acceptance has been a thorn in our own flesh. Four years down the line, no one can fix the television set and it is still frustrating as we move from one repairman to another (they all tell you they can fix it at first don’t they?). However, who is to blame for this fault? Is it the repairman who told me he could fix anything that had an electrical current running through it; My family for not buying a “voltage regulator” to protect our devices or NAWEC for being characteristically unreliable? I think the last option sticks.

Vision 2020 and the recently launched PAGE for which a resource mobilization conference was recently held (Yes I do watch GRTS sometimes) are all as dependent on electricity as any of those electrical devices we have in our homes. My piece will not touch on tariffs for that is a wormhole I do not dare delve into (I imagine it will take me at least 8 hours to pen that one). It is simply disheartening to see that no matter how far other sectors of our nation develop, power supply continues to be one puzzle we seem to have no idea of solving. Our kerosene lamps have now been replaced by battery consuming lamps whose light is but a wee bit brighter than their predecessors.

Coming home, I was amazed by the street lights that lit up our highways. I remember when I used to walk the back route from my home to Jeshwang about a decade ago and being a stupid young man then, had no care for my safety until I was told stories of armed robbers roaming the street. Coming home and feeling safe to walk around simply because there were lights on all the major roads was like a miracle. There was power almost 24/7 and we started to get used to this beautiful thing. I truly believed we had solved whatever problem it was that had got us in this “quagmire” (Balafong inside joke) in the first place. Whatever curse the “black cat” had placed on our generators had been removed and life was going to be perfect. Our streets would light up like they did in Taipei and New York (parts of London feel and smell like Primet used to – Sue me “Banjulians” – so I will not be including it in this equation). Vision 2020 was more than attainable and business would flow like a never ending stream...and did it not? If only for 2 years but it sure did make this nation grow beautifully. I do not understand why some people do not see that. For months the nation was silent, not to be polluted by noisy generators and things were just beautiful...until....they stopped being beautiful.

The responsibility to provide power for our population is a huge one. I believe it must be handled with all honesty and sincerity. There is such arrogance that is depicted which should not be tolerated. If this population of Gambians does not understand that building a nation does not happen overnight, then they are truly living a walking dream. I strongly believe that we all understand this truth. However, even where we seek answers to these questions upon which our growth as a people depends, the answers we get are arrogantly unsatisfactory. 2 weeks maintenance turns into 3 months and a week or two of load shedding turns into a year!! How does anyone explain that? There is no system in place to ensure that NAWEC takes full responsibility for its sporadic “on and off routine” which almost always leads to the deterioration or destruction of property.

I have been told that, we live in a country where to criticize an institution is to cry for blood...however, our institutions understanding that they serve a populace is the important part of this equation. We cannot blame our power companies (GUC, MSG, UHC, NAWEC) for technical issues with generators, or the cost of fuel, or even a black cat walking into one of the generators but we can blame them for the swift delivery of INFORMATION. The only thing more vital than information in this age is...well...power (not the power wielded by government but that which we use to light up our homes). My concern for power is not just with regards investment but also with regards to security. Our long term goals should (if they do not already) include lighting up every street in The Gambia but how do we attain that when lighting up our homes is becoming a difficult task for our electricity company? Sometimes you’re walking on the highway late at night and suddenly it’s a “general blackout” and you never know what danger lurks in the darkness (I am so not talking about “domas”).

In the quest to satisfy the power demands of the people, management has been changed time and time again with an improvement that always lasts a while before going back to “normal”. Maybe, just maybe the problem is more deep-rooted than we think. It could be a culture...because in truth, we have been known to take very little care for our possessions. We must admit that we are wasteful and we enjoy things only when they are “new”. However, learning to manage what we have and doing required maintenance systematically with proper planning and procedure would go a long way in saving us all this trouble.

We have lived in darkness for too long. This journey we are now on with announcements from NAWEC every month and constant power cuts is becoming depressingly unbearable. Where solutions cannot be cast forward, do we not deserve to know the truth? Should we quickly invest in generators if this is not changing anytime soon? Should I start a battery-powered lamp business and make my million before this problem is solved? Should I invest in solar-powered appliances? The truth is, very few Gambians can afford the necessary adaptations that will light up the tunnel...we should endeavour to light up The Gambia for all its citizens...or at least...explain so that the people can start to invest in new ideas for energy and power generation. Our development drive will be slow, as long as these things continue to happen.
 

TGBA