So I am here, finally. I arrived 16 hours later than scheduled, crumpled and dishevelled but delighted to be back. I really do love Liberia. It feels comfortable. Now anyone who has been here will know that when I say comfortable I don't mean in the creature comforts way, but in the familiar, I know and like this place, I know where to get great cassava greens and there are people here who know me and dare I say are pleased to see me.
But things have changed in Monrovia since the last time I was here. The progress I reported then continues. The road building programme has been going apace and there is so much construction work. There are brand spanking new petrol stations, hotels, markets and homes from luxury villas to modest three- and four-roomed houses. Today the Minister of Energy announced an extensive electrification programme which will see 10 times as many properties in Monrovia connected to the national grid by 2015 as now as well as turning the lights on in large parts of the rest of the country. It is hard for those of us who live in the West to conceive of life without being able to flick a switch whenever you want. But in a country where nights last about 12 hours and the cost of using a generator is high, the impact of affordable, safe electricity will be huge. Businesses will be able to stay open past dusk, employment opportunities will increase, children will be able to study after school, the streets will be safer, food will keep safely longer. Life will be better for many more people. And for a country still healing from the brutal wounds inflicted by 16 years of war which ended just 10 years ago, this kind of progress is just what is needed.
(By the way I am claiming Casablanca - I was there nine hours, that has to count.)
No comments:
Post a Comment