Liberia: Aggrieved Residents Give 2 Weeks Ultimatum

Maryland — Angry residents, including traditional leaders of Yokudee Pedebo, Maryland county have given local government officials two weeks ultimatum to provide them brand new transmitter.

The residents erected roadblocks and gave the ultimatum following several promises from authority of the Liberia Electricity Corporation in the county.

According to them, it’s been nearly a year now since Mr. Wallace Dennis, who coordinates electricity activities there, promised to have provided them with a transmitter, but is yet to fulfill his promise. The NEW DAWN has not independently verified this allegation.

Aggrieved residents, including traditional leaders headed by one Eric Dickson, had earlier erected ‘traditional’ roadblocks, but later agreed on Saturday, October 8, 2022, to remove the blockade on transmission poles of the West Africa Power Pool Project (WAPP) after several appeals, announcing a two-week ultimatum or else, they would return to protesting.

The blockage lasted for four days, causing residents of adjacent towns and cities to have slept in darkness after aggrieved residents put traditional charms and talismans on transmission poles, daring “anyone calling themselves man” to climb the poles.

Yokudee and nearby villages in the Pedeboe Border area, host transmission lines from Ivory Coast to Liberia passing over the Cavalla River but those areas have been without electricity for more than seven years since a 50KVA transformer was allegedly removed to replace a damaged one in central Harper during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Inhabitants continue to receive promises, including one from incumbent Senator James Biney, during his campaign for the senate in 2020 that is yet to be fulfilled, according to reports.

Pedeboe town in Maryland situates at the border with neighboring Ivory Coast. But like several other villages and communities in the county, it is without power. Meanwhile, this paper has gathered that several factors continue to hinder smooth implementation and free flow of electricity from the West Africa Power Pole, including poorly planted poles, lack of meters for customers, and absence of a substation on the Liberian side of the border.