THE Hinterland Electrification Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister intends to make the Christmas season brighter and merrier for several residents of Region 1 (Barima/Waini) by way of energising households at Santa Rosa and Matthew’s Ridge for the holidays.An expected 200 households from Matthew’s Ridge where the generation and distribution system was recently completed and is ready to commence service, will benefit from electrification as a Christmas gift from the HEU.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the HEU, Mr. Horace Williams disclosed that the people of Matthew’s Ridge had been served by a limited distribution network in the 1950s and the 1960s but not much of a public electricity system since then.
The project at Matthew’s Ridge was executed at a cost of $43M. Eighty homes from Santa Rosa are also to similarly benefit as a result of the completion of a $35M upgrade of the system in the village.
Williams said that the onus is on the residents to hurry and get their domestic wiring approved, since this is the only remaining obstacle to generation.
He said: “We are ready to generate electricity for these households. Everything is in place. Once 50% or close to 50% of the two communities are ready for safe connection to the grid, the current will start flowing.”