The capital of Guinea-Bissau now breathes a sigh of relief, after a night spent completely in the dark, to the point that the main radio stations fell silent. That’s what counts TSF the information director of Rádio Capital, Tiago Seide, who affirms that hospitals have also gone through difficult times.
“This morning the surgical interventions that should have been carried out were not carried out. Some patients who went there were not treated, they had to leave the hospital to go, for example, to the clinics, because some clinics have a set of generators in operation,” Explain.
The generators were also the solution found by many families in Bissau, who sought help in the task of cooling their homes, in a city with temperatures that reach 40 degrees.
The lack of electricity also caused a water shortage, which complicated the lives of the more than 400,000 inhabitants of Bissau.
“People who go to do their weekly shopping have, for example, fish in the refrigerator and you wake up in the morning and you have no energy, you don’t know when it will arrive or not,” he laments, stating that the “blackout” was unprecedented. .
“It is the first time that the company decides to carry out this blackout without prior notice,” he highlights.
This is a debt of “around 17 million dollars” (15.8 million euros) that the Bissau Government must pay to Karpower, the Turkish company that has been supplying electricity to Guinea-Bissau for five years, as of a boat.
The Minister of Energy assured that part of that debt had already been paid and, therefore, the electricity returned mid-afternoon on Wednesday, but it is feared that the situation remains unstable.
The journalist adds that the Executive has had financial problems and believes that, at this time, the country “is cornered.”
“[O Governo] He could not pay the debt because he has salaries to pay. Asking for loans from banks to advance payment to the company and then asking commercial banks again to pay the salary will be complicated,” he says.
So far, the Executive has been able to pay just over six million dollars (5.69 million euros), having gained time to renegotiate the debt. But things can get complicated, warns Tiago Seide.
“If the Government does not have the capacity to pay off the debt and continue assuming the costs of the invoices issued by the company, it is obvious that the Karpower company will not continue supplying energy and we will continue with a blackout,” points.
The current Executive blames the previous one for having purchased too much energy, stating that he is paying for a product that is not consumed. Adding to the problem, Tiago Seide warns, are broken generators and the lack of alternatives to Turkish supply.
“There has been no sign that the Government is looking for another partner. In my opinion, that should be the way. Yes, it will work to pay off the debt, but we will have to look for others.” alternatives,” he argues.
Tiago Seide also adds that within three or four months there will be a dam in Guinea-Conakry ready to supply energy to Bissau, but, until then, it will continue to depend on the Turkish company.
Source: TSF
