Elhadji lasana Fofana Presents Reports On The OMVG Project
Elhadj lasana Fofana, High Commissioner of the OMVG (Gambia River Basin Development Organization) yesterday July 5th, 2023 presented reports of the OMVG Project.
The OMVG (Gambia River Basin Development Organization) is an energy project which was implemented in 2016 for the benefit of 4 member states: Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau.
Mr. Elhadj Lasana Fofana highlighted that the project has made significant progress.
The presentation was done when Guinea Bissau Minister of Natural Resources, and Chairman of OMVG Council of Ministers Hon. Dionisio Cabi met with President Adama Barrow at the statehouse in Banjul on July 5th 2023.
“We have constructed 1,677km square of high tension, 225kb power transmission lines which strengthens corporation between the OMVG member states (Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea) through transmission of power.” Said Elhadj Lasana Fofana.
He added that, they have 15 sub-stations which link the electricity grids of the 4 OMVG member states together and that the interconnection project has been completed in The Gambia and in Senegal and it is currently in its final stage in Guinea and Guinea Bissau and should be completed by December of this year.
He further disclosed that, they have launched the Sambangalou hydropower Dam which would be using 128 megawatts of electricity and anticipated that the construction time frame would be 48 months and the project is not only important for energy purposes but will also allow the irrigation of 90,000 hectares of farmland of which 40,000 hectares are located in Senegal and 50,000 hectares in The Gambia.
He stated that, the program is ongoing and all the communities in the OMVG region will be electrified.
He quoted, “This line is also equipped with 36 pairs of optical fiber. We only need 4 pairs of optical fiber in order to run our operations, but the remaining 32 pairs would be used to develop telecommunication activities in the 4 Member countries at the national, regional and local levels.”
According to the High Commissioner the essence of the project is believe to ensure that the population stays in their areas and do not migrate and the way to achieve that is by making sure they have the basic necessities where they live.
Mr. Elhadj lasana Fofana, High Commissioner of the OMVG Project, ended his remarks by saying that the the best way to fight against poverty and illegal immigration is to ensure that at the end of the Project they bring Electricity, supply drinking water, Agricultural water and also Health, Education, Infrastructure, Telecommunication and Transportation.
