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