By Edward Kollie| LPR News, Monrovia
Curran Lutheran Hospital in Zorzor, Lofa County in western Liberia has benefited from a 18kilowatts solar energy system to ease huge fuel consumption expenditure stress.
The initiative back up with a five years management plan is funded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church women in Minnesota the United States of America through the Global health ministry and implemented by Pickering Energy Solutions.
The systems which is build up with 80 solar panels, six inverters, four charge controllers and batteries will produce 25kilowatts per hours with cloudy weather and 125kilowatts per hours on sunny days.
According to the Chief Executive Director of Pickering Energy Solutions Chip Pickering, the 18kilowatts energy is characterized with a critical power system that will help supply the doctors’ offices, CT scan, and other critical care units of the hospital.
The Solar development program specialist said, the Curran Lutheran solar project, is sister to the Phebe hospital in Bong County solar energy program aimed at relieving both hospitals from the huge expenditure they make fuel.
Both Hospitals are said to have an annual fuel expenditure of 25,000 United States dollars.
Mr. Pickering unveiled that the total cost of the project at Curran Lutheran hospital in Zorzor at USD150, 000, and USD 300,000 at the Phebe Hospital respectively.
Receiving the gesture on behalf of the hospital, Curran Lutheran Hospital Acting Administrator Mr. Mulbah Johnson lauded the ELCA Women and the project implementer Pickering Energy Solution for their good will and added that the facility will be properly maintained and use for it intended purpose.
The installation of the 18kw energy will reduce hospital high demand for fuel as the sun will buttress the generator efforts in the provision of electricity to the healing entity at some reasonable time and situations.
The high consumption of fuel to run the lone referral hospital that provides healthcare to thousands from Zorzor and Salayea districts in Lofa, Belle districts in Gbarpolu county and portion of Koyama district in neighboring Guinea is part of the many challenges faced by the hospital.
The Lutheran run medical facility has been battling with inadequate electricity, drugs, medical equipment and payment of employees’ salaries on time since the facility budget was reduced from US$300,000 to US$50,000 in 2018 by government as well as donor fatigue.
In April of this year, employees of the institution embarked on two weeks stay home strike action in demand of their eleven months salary six months of which was paid through the government of Liberia intervention.
About half a million Liberian dollars was generated which look like an ice on the cake.
The Hospital has been presence in Lofa for 97 years and still counting, but the Lutheran healing facility has come under serious criticism from locals of late, for what they called “poor management” of donor funds.
