'You're not alone in the darkness': Gambia president urges calm after violent blackout protests

The unrest comes just months before a presidential election expected in December, in which Barrow is seeking a controversial third term.In a televised address on Tuesday night, Barrow acknowledged the hardship caused by the blackouts but warned protesters against damaging public infrastructure, saying it would only worsen the disruption and divert money towards repairs."Let us not destroy in a moment of anger what we suffered so long to gain," he said.The president admitted there had been shortcomings in the government's planning, power generation and maintenance systems, calling the resulting outages "a national security issue" and an "emergency". "I know that the fans have stopped turning, children work in the dark, mothers throw away stale food, and the heat is unbearable by day and by night," the president, promising that supplies would improve by the end of October.He said a new 24-megawatt generating unit was being installed at the Brikama power station and would be commissioned by the end of next month.A contract has also been awarded for a 50MW solar power plant in Soma, although no completion date was given."For a system of our size, this is considerable power, enough to make a big difference in your homes," Barrow added.