Dream No. 5 Of 10: Along The Roads – Power Lines "The policy-maker who does not recognize both the trigger role and multiplier effect of power lives in the stone-age and ought to be banned from a society that is in a big hurry to move on and play catch-up..." 14 August 2016
By Alfred Lokuji Travel along the old US railroads and you see two other things running parallel: motorways and power-lines, which followed in that order. It is clear that the different agents of these developmental undertakings recognized that getting to every destination is incomplete without electric power. You can see the same replicated along both the railway from Mombasa to Gulu as well as along the motorways that have recently been constructed. The extension of the Kampala-Gulu highway to Nimule is clearly accompanied by a power lines – and you can see “development” booming as a result. Turn to the appalling situation in the Republic of South Sudan: an unexplained reluctance to tap the god-given power at Fula Falls; the generator becoming a status symbol rather than a necessity! The use of power generators in Juba alone can only be compared to a family of 50 living in one house, but each cooking his/her own meal – completely oblivious to the idea of “economies of scale”! Now, replicate Juba 28 times, if it excites your imagination, and you begin to see live Lilliputians at work, to the great amusement of Gulliver! Yes – power is convenient for charging your phone, enable you to watch your Nigerian films, and listen to your favourite music. We easily forget that “power tools” facilitate and speed up otherwise tedious tasks such as changing tires and driving screws. Out there, where our national roads lead us – power is needed to provide light to lighten the burden of darkness; to connect our world with the other worlds in virtual time; to draw clean potable water from deep underground; to grind the millet for one month’s supply of asida, and save that poor wretched woman from a task assigned to her and her alone on the grind-stone! Power brings excitement to schools and drives up their quest for knowledge. Power enables all institutions to utilize computers and other power tools to work more efficiently. Power would enable us to get our abundant fish fresh from the fishing grounds deep in the marshes of Upper Nile to world markets – fresh! Investors would follow “Power” wherever power goes, bringing jobs, goods and services – rendering “the Capital City” less relevant to the majority of citizens and Power – be it thermal, hydro, solar, nuclear, or wind – is the engine of progress! The policy-maker who does not recognize both the trigger role and multiplier effect of power lives in the stone-age and ought to be banned from a society that is in a big hurry to move on and play catch-up with others in the neighbourhood of nations. Please do not remind me that Rome was not built in a day – it was prioritized and getting built, not just talked about! Posted in: Opinions - See more at: http://gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ID/19764/Default.aspx#sthash.5MuuAeaA.dpuf -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oqDXqOfiyynqSvQAr7SBPt5nF8yu-dqdBs6ZXj5EgDhVw%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
