AYV News, June 12, 2024
Mayor of Freetown, Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, has revealed that the sum of Forty-One Million, One Hundred Thousand Old Leones is spent on buying fuel to power the generators supplying electricity to the Freetown City Hall daily.
Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said, given the upcoming power cuts and the cost of keeping the building operational, she thought it would be helpful to provide a bit of information to Freetonians about the City Hall.
The building has 7 lifts, an auditorium with an advanced sound system, a 400 tonne water tank that is pumped using electricity, fire sprinklers and other complex equipment that require electricity. It has two 800 KVA generators (one on standby). Running the 800 KVA generator requires 1500 litres of fuel for NLe41,100 a day.
The City Hall has 17 floors, including a basement and a roof garden. In addition to the Freetown City Council, the building houses Audit Services Sierra Leone (2 floors), the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Food Security (1 floor), and 3 private sector companies (5 floors). The ground floor hosts outlets for 6 banks (Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (SLCB), ECOBANK, Rokel Commercial Bank (RCB), ZENITH BANK, ACCESS BANK and CMB).
According to the mayor, solar panels were installed after the building was constructed, but their output cannot cover the electricity demand for the building.
The Freetown City Hall is a 15-story building in the Central Business District, serving as the headquarters of the Freetown City Council. It was built on the site of the previous City Hall, which was destroyed in 1999. The building houses government agencies, private businesses, and offers hospitality and entertainment facilities, including a roof garden, Skylounge Restaurant, and hotel rooms.
