Central African Republic plunged into darkness after power system collapses
Jul 9th, 2008 by Brock Boddie UNDP CAR
Prime Minister makes emergency appeal
Bangui, Central African Republic – Faustin Touadera, Prime Minister of the Central African Republic, issued an emergency appeal for international support in the wake of a catastrophic failure of the country’s power system. After nearly 60 years of service and erratic maintenance at best, and despite offers from key donors to help over the course of the past few months, CAR’s weak electric infrastructure has taken one more step towards complete collapse. Rolling blackouts, often lasting more than 24 hours, have now plunged the capital into nearly complete darkness.
Touadera is calling for high capacity generators to be delivered to Bangui immediately to head off a pending health, sanitation and security crisis: without electricity, cleaning water, providing minimal health care and maintaining security would all become virtually impossible. He is further requesting that the generators be donated specifically to power the hospitals and the water pumping station in Bangui in order to avert the worst and most immediate aspects of the impending crisis. The UN is currently assessing the situation and preliminary findings suggest that many key installations have generators: the problem seems to be that institutions do not have money to buy fuel.
To make matters worse, because of the ongoing power crisis, businesses and private citizens are turning to gasoline powered generators. This is stoking fears of inflation for goods of all kinds, as most goods are delivered to CAR by truck from outside of the country (including gasoline). Considering that there is already a fuel shortage throughout CAR, this will only add to the fragility of the situation.
Hydroelectric plant in Boali: powering a country the size of France.
The problem stems largely from the country’s old and poorly maintained electrical infrastructure. Two hydroelectric power stations, some 70 km from Bangui, provide the vast majority of the power consumed in CAR. Both plants are considered to be completely dilapidated, having only received minor repairs since they were constructed: one in 1954 and the other in 1976. Backup generators are also in an advanced state of disrepair, with only one of the six generating sets being operational.
This growing energy crisis paired with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the north makes Touadera’s appeal for emergency assistance of even greater urgency.
