NEWS

A team from the European Union inspected the TRANSCO CLSG substation in Grand Bassa County which it intends to use to feed a distribution network for the supply of electricity to Buchanan city and other southeastern cities.

Speaking to FrontPageAfrica in Buchanan, the head of cooperation at the European Union in Liberia, Theododorus Kaspers, said "The agreement is signed for a total of US$42 million and it is supposed to bring electricity to a number of cities in the Southeast - Buchanan, Barclayville and Greenville in particular and in principle extend electricity to cities which are already being which are already being served from the lines across the border - Cote d'Ivoire."

He said cities like Harper in Maryland County, Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, Tappita in Nimba County would all benefit from the distribution network.

He said though the original plan to get private sector involvement in the distribution may not be feasible, the EU would still go ahead with the distribution in Buchanan, Barclayville and Greenville while finding means to get the private sector involved.

"It is important for us in support of the energy sector to engage with the private sector. In all countries in the world, you see a transformation from government-run entities to private sector; so, we need to find ways to attract the private sector in those cities to operate," he said.

About 11,000 households are expected to benefit from the programme in Buchanan City.

Also speaking to FrontPageAfrica, the country manager for Transco CLSG in Liberia, Jerry Taylor, said the Buchanan substation is one of five substations built by TRANSCO CLSG project for the supply of power from Cote d'Ivoire to all parts of Liberia.

"The EU called us that there is funding for not only the backbone but also for the distribution of electricity for the city of Buchanan and this is where we come in because we are responsible for the substation in Buchanan," he said.

He said the substation would be energized in April this year.