Power outages remind us of our potential energy resources

When things don’t work in war-torn Baghdad, Iraq, people tend to keep their heads. Certainly there are other worries that are more dangerous than simply frustrating. Having electricity for just a few hours each day, or water for that matter, is a luxury, not an expectation, and when it goes out people do not get angry and bent out of shape. But Rwanda, as much as people like to think otherwise, is not Baghdad, and here the luxury of security is yielding to an expectation of security, and likewise unfortunate power outages, like the ones rolling through Kigali this week, are met more with irritation and confusion than acceptance. As world history evolves, we find more and more the ingenuity of mankind to turn what it has been given by God into the material we build our success on. For years Dubai, for instance, was a small fishing and pearl-diving village. Now, as man has discovered oil and avionics, it is a major world city and stop on trade routes. In Rwanda we have been given water. And now with the advancements of man and the stability of the government, we have found that we were also given natural gas that could turn the dimly lit nightly glow of the rain forest into a modern network of electricity. When the power went out in Kigali this week, Lake Kivu and its idle gas naturally came to mind. The genius of development and progress lies in finding these resources, but the success of it comes in the fortitude and velocity in turning those possibilities into reality. Not only will Rwanda be able to provide for itself and its own citizens, but underwater energy sources will be more than enough for the country itself to handle and money is waiting to be made selling it to neighbouring countries. The New Times knows that the Government of Rwanda is working hard to find the money, manpower and mutual partners to fully develop the energy infrastructure of the country, specifically in Lake Kivu, and we call on those in charge to make it the top priority in the ministry of Infrastructure and Energy. A Rwanda that uses its own resources to the best of its ability is a Rwanda that will always be lit, always online, and always integrated into regional energy economics and making a bundle of money off it at the same time.Ends