By Adama Makasuba
At least over twenty-two million Dollars (US$22.5 million) has been spent on Kiang electronification, President Adama Barrow told gatherings in Kwinela as he launched the project.
Kiang was one of the most neglected areas since independence in terms of social amenities like electricity. But when President Barrow came in to power about four years ago he promised lightening Kiang and environs.
Speaking to thousands of people, he said: “This Electricity Expansion Project has been successfully executed at a total cost of over Twenty-two Million US Dollars (US$22.5 Million). It is indeed a key milestone in the Government’s drive towards achieving universal access to electricity in The Gambia by 2025.”
“The implementation of this first phase started in 2017, and the project covers seventy-seven (77) communities. Fourteen (14) of these are in Kiang, and sixty-three (63) are in the West Coast Region. Altogether, the range targets five thousand (5000) meters in Kiang and over twenty thousand (20,000) meters in the West Coast Region,” he added.
He continued: “I am happy to disclose that, for this purpose, we have mobilised over Two Hundred Million Dollars ($200 Million) to achieve this lofty, but attainable, goal. The Electricity Expansion Project we are inaugurating today is part of the National Electricity Road Map for universal electricity access. It has many other components, such as The Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernization Project, the Regional Electricity Access Project, the OMVG Electricity Interconnection Project and The Gambia Power Generation Improvement Project. All of them are slated for completion in the next few years.”
