Caldwell Residents Protest in Demand of Electricity

According to the Liberian Observer The Township of Caldwell was yesterday a scene of chaos when residents took to the streets protesting having to go over two years without electricity in their area. The residents, who blocked the major road in the area leaving motorists stranded, chanted ‘solidarity songs’ in unison as they created a traffic gridlock that lasted all day Monday. But authorities of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) and the Liberia National Police (LNP) have called for a roundtable discussion between the leadership of the protesters and the LEC management to find a common ground to the protesters’ demand for power supply. The protest also paralyzed commercial activities in the area as the protesters accused the erstwhile Unity Party government of not responding to their complaints over the years. According to the protesters, they have on previous occasion paid bills for community supply of electricity to owners of generators, which they said is not ‘even dependable.’

protester with placard demanding the utility company provide services to Caldwell.

One of the protesters, Fofee Karneh, said the residents have made several efforts to the LEC management over the lack of power supply, but to no avail. Karneh accused the LEC of being insensitive to the plights of the residents, because he feels that the power outage in the community has negatively affected commercial activities in the area to the extent that many businesses are being affected.

He added, “We have been in total darkness for over two years now, and that the LEC has not responded to our plights.”

“Residents of other communities including those in some parts of Johnsonsville, New Kru Town, and as far as St. Paul Bridge are enjoying electricity, but for us in Caldwell, the story is totally different, and so we are pleading with the LEC to connect us,” Karneh said.