President Barrow Saturday presided over the inauguration of a 30kV electricity line from Laminkoto to Diabugu Batapa, extending electricity supply to 46 communities in Sami and Sandu districts.
In his keynote address, the President said the project is a well-deserved achievement for the people of Central and Upper River Regions, who strongly need such public projects.
“This important energy project has been implemented to expand electricity access to forty-six (46) communities that run from Lamin Koto to Diabugu Batapa in the districts of Sami and Sandu and within the two furthest regions of the country. These are areas that very strongly need such public projects.
As disclosed earlier, it is an eight-million US Dollar (US$ 8 million) medium voltage 30 KV line network initiative that is fully loaded with distribution facilities. The package includes electricity connection meters provided for one thousand Dalasi (D1,000. 00) for two thousand, five hundred and twenty (2,520) beneficiaries. Among them will be household, institutional, and commercial end-users or customers.
It is safe to state confidently that this is a major project that has come to transform the beneficiary communities and will significantly improve the lives and livelihoods of the people who live in those communities.
Besides providing a regular electricity supply for them, the facilities will create various opportunities for the people; for example, it will enable the residents of the settlements to process and add value to their agricultural produce, facilitate access to quality social services, and enhance better living conditions.
As my government continues to strive to provide universal access to electricity by 2025, because this project is a component of The Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernization Project, it will undoubtedly contribute remarkably towards the achievement of our national universal electrification program.
While other electricity access projects are being implemented speedily to close the universal electricity access gap, we remain strongly committed to achieving the noble 2025 target of electricity access for all.”
