Ex-President Sirleaf Hails Weah for Lighting Monrovia -Prays for Expansion of Street Lights to Secondary Areas

Since President George M. Weah commissioned his presidential street light project with the switching on of streets lights, adorning the sidewalks of the Liberian capital – from ELWA Junction to Broad Street, the citizens have gone gaga over seeing their streets lit up like the proverbial normal days when homes and businesses enjoyed 24-hour electricity, and one could find a dropped ten cents coin on any part of the streets in town even after the wee-wee hours. Joining the bandwagon to praise President Weah for his government’s initiative to brighten the city and strengthen security, former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has commended President Weah for providing Primary Street lighting, but however, urges him to extend the service to secondary parts of the city.

In a characteristic upbeat fashion, Madam Sirleaf expressed her happiness over the newly illuminated Monrovia night skyline by tweeting on Monday, February 8, 2021 her joy at seeing her city lit up.

“I commend President Weah for the Monrovia primary street lighting project and urge him to extend lighting to secondary areas,” former President Sirleaf enthused.

Pundits are of the express opinion that the plaudits from the former Liberian leader to President Weah is a step in the right direction, given the fact that government is continuity, which means President Weah is carrying out the legacy of his predecessor.

Before the advent of the civil war, Monrovia was considered the nirvana of West Africa, especially for many who had not traveled to the United States, they termed Liberia as “petit America”. Storefronts, shops and restaurants operated nearly on a 24-hour basis due to the constant flow of electricity, except for the dry season when waters in the dam of the Mount Coffee Hydro ran dry. But the 1990 war destroyed the hydro and almost every other basic infrastructure.

Projected at the cost of US$365 million, rehabilitation of the Mount Coffee plant and establishment of a distribution network became the major preoccupation of the erstwhile Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf government. By the time she had left power in 2018, the Mount Coffee Hydro Plant rehabilitation project was accordingly well on course, ready to provide electricity to 40,000 households, even though Mount Coffee can actually cover up to 200,000 households.

President Weah’s special street light project is expected to run side-by-side with the incoming overwhelming supply of electricity from the Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea (CLSG) belt that goes full blast this March, according to insider information from the Government energy sector.

“With the CLSG connectivity, Liberia will never experience power fluctuations even during dry seasons,” the source stated confidently.