KAKATA, June 1 (LINA) - The Administration of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) in Kakata, Margibi County, is expected to dedicate two newly-constructed training centers dealing with biomass and hydraulics.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Liberia News Agency Sunday, BWI Vice Principal Isaac Stevens told the Liberia News Agency Sunday that the dedication will take place on the institution’s Founder’s Day on June 29.
He disclosed that the biomass training center is a renewable energy that produces power through wood chips, palm kernels and coconut shells.
He said the Biomass Training Center was constructed by Winrock International with funding from the United Sttates Agency for International Development (USAID).
He said the center has three gas fires that produce 20 kilowatts each, totaling 60 kilowatts of electricity.
The electricity produced from the biomass is immensely assisting in powering the vocational trade areas, Stevens said.
He said the power produced from the biomass is cost-efficient and will lessen the high cost of fuel to run the institution’s diesel generator.
He said with the establishment of the biomass training center, the Booker Washington Institute is fast becoming a renewable center in Liberia.
Mr. Stevens further disclosed that to mend the biomass training center, it has begun training some of its students to go out to service biomass machines that will be purchased by other entities in the country.
He said the school has already sent two of its students to the United States for advanced training in biomass electric power, adding that BWI also intends to include Renewable Energy courses in its Vocational Education Curriculum, which, he noted, will transform it into an exciting place for research and training in the area of biomass.
The Booker Washington Institute is said to be currently the only institution in the country that has this new technology.
According to Mr. Stevens, the Heavy Duty Hydraulic Training Center was established by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), with funding primarily coming from the Japanese Government.
It is a heavy equipment training center that will specifically train students in the operation of all heavy duty machines.
Stevens said the training center will be primarily simulated with few machines on the ground for practical training, while majority of the training will be done on the computer.
All of the equipment for the hydraulic training center has been installed, awaiting the dedication ceremony.
Currently, two staff from the General Auto Department are in Tokyo, Japan, undergoing advanced studies in heavy duty and hydraulic equipment.
Upon return, they will train students of the heavy equipment training center.
The President, Madam Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf is expected to cut the ribbon to the two training centers on BWI come June 29, Stevens said.
LINA RDB/TSS/PTK