MIDDLE GUINEA - INSIGHTS INTO ELECTRICITY AND

UNCLAS CONAKRY 001176 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG PGOV ECON GV SUBJECT: MIDDLE GUINEA - INSIGHTS INTO ELECTRICITY AND WATER SHORTAGES ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Conakry is not the only city in Guinea suffering from electricity and water shortages as a trip to Middle Guinea revealed. In Labe, a city of approximately 250,000 people, residents endure rolling blackouts and can only access running water once every two days. Although a much-needed transformer was delivered two years ago, it remains inoperative due to the lack of parts necessary for connecting it to the power grid. The lack of electricity also impacts the water supply since electricity is needed to power water pumps. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) During a four-day trip through Middle Guinea, poloff met with technicians of the government-operated electrical company, Electricity de Guinea (EDG),and the water company, Societe Eau de Guinea (SEG) in Labe. Poloff also visited the hydroelectric dam in Kinkon, located between Mamou and Labe, as well as a dam in Labe supplying public water. ¶3. (U) Government and civilian contacts alike informed poloff that the city of Labe imposes rolling blackouts because it cannot provide power simultaneously to all districts. Due to lack of electrical supply to water pumps, running water is provided to districts once every two days. ¶4. (SBU) According to contacts, the Labe EDG administrative office was closed for business beginning October 16 because a number of youth representatives went to the office and threatened to tear it down if the administrators did not close it. They reportedly told EDG officials that since EDG was not doing its job and supplying power to the city, there was no reason for them to be sitting in their offices. The governor of Labe reportedly left for Conakry early on October 17, along with the head of EDG, to meet with officials at the Ministry of Energy in order to find a solution to the city,s electrical supply problem. (COMMENT. A youth representative later proudly informed Poloff of his association,s role in affecting the EDG closure. END COMMENT.) ¶5. (SBU) Camara Aliy Wilson, a senior EDG technician working for the company for over ten years, showed poloff a brand-new electrical transformer that had been delivered to Labe two years earlier, but which remains in an unopened crate. He said that the previous Prime Minister,s administration had sent someone from the Ministry of Energy to purchase the transformer, but because they failed to consult with technicians, they bought the wrong connecting equipment. Ever since the delivery of the transformer, EDG Labe has unsuccessfully lobbied the government to provide them with the necessary parts to connect it to the power grid. ¶6. (SBU) Wilson added that with the connection of the transformer, EDG could supply all of Labe with continuous, around the clock power ) and still have some to spare. He said that since the 1990s, the city has not had reliable power noting that production levels have remained constant while consumption has more than doubled. ¶7. (SBU) Labe is at the northern end of Guinea,s main electrical grid, which supplies Conakry and all of Lower and Middle Guinea, Wilson explained, which means that Conakry,s electrical problems are related to the problems experienced all the way up the grid. Wilson said that Middle Guinea hosts two major hydro-electric dams, which were built during Sekou Toure,s regime and it is these dams that supply most of the country,s power. One of these dams is located in Kinkon, between Mamou and Labe, and the other in Kindia. ¶8. (SBU) With respect to water, government officials showed poloff the Toure dam, which is located about twenty minutes from the city via a very rough village road. The dam was built in 1998 and the resulting reservoir is 17 meters deep. The dam employs three different pumps at three varying depths, but only uses two at any one time. Located a few hundred feet away from the dam, a water treatment facility enables technicians to chemically treat the water before pumping it into the city. ¶9. (SBU) The prefect of Labe, Elhadj Ibrahima Bah, told poloff that there is more than enough water to supply the city for years to come. The problem is electricity,, he said. Elhadj Bah noted that the water pumps are not connected to the city power grid, which means that they operate off of an aging generator. He said that the generator consumes 58 liters of gasoline per hour, a costly expense that the government simply cannot afford, which forces it to limit the water supply. Elhadj Bah said that a team from the International Red Cross had also visited the dam and is considering a proposal to assist with financing in order to address some of the electricity issues. BROKENSHIRE