by Innocent Onoh
Thirty-six employees of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) have arrived Nigeria for intensive empowerment training as part of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) plan for Liberia. The WAPP is a cooperation of the national electricity companies in Western Africa under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) working to establish a reliable power grid for the region and a common market for electricity.
Mamadou Alpha Sylla, coordinator for the Capacity Building Program at the WAPP who spoke with reporters in Monrovia, Liberian capital, said he was delighted to work with the LEC, especially in the area of building the capacity of its staff. “The 36 staff will undergo intensive training in both Lagos and Abuja to ensure that they come back and are able to perform well. I think they have the potential to be trained and come back to deliver in their various departments,” he said.
According to Sylla, WAPP hopes that beneficiaries of the training will be able to train their workmates upon their return to Liberia, describing the program as an effort towards preparing Liberia’s technicians to be unified in the electricity market. In his remarks, Samuel Weedor, who works at the LEC’s transmission and distribution substation, said he was excited at the opportunity the two-week training would afford him and his colleagues, pointing out that he would closely observe some of the substation’s equipment in view of the challenges they face in Liberia.
In Mr. Weedor’s words, “We have worked with LEC for number of years and I think that no other institution in Liberia is prepared to employ I of technicians. With LEC, thousands can still be employed.”
