The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has appealed to Ghanaians not to vandalise the company’s installations or molest its staff in their frustration over the current erratic power supply.
According to the company, any damage done to an installation within a particular locality will adversely affect power supply to that area when the power supply situation normalised.
The Public Relations Officer of the ECG, Mr William Boateng, who made the appeal in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the company understood the frustrations of Ghanaians but the solution to the power situation did not lie in vandalising the company’s installations or molesting its staff.
Ghanaians are frustrated
“We understand what they are going through and their frustrations, but destroying our machines and molesting our staff will not help. Destroying our machines will not help because when the power situation normalises, it is those same machines that we would depend on to supply power to those areas,” he said.
He explained that the current situation was not as a result of the inefficiency of the ECG but due to a power supply deficit.
The ECG, he said, was only a distributor of power that had been generated by the power-generating companies so it would only distribute what had been supplied to it by the power-generating companies.
Expression of frustrations
Mr Boateng’s plea followed the actions of irritated residents of some suburbs of Accra who went on the rampage, blocking roads and destroying property owned by the ECG due to the persistent power cuts in their vicinities.
Residents of Lapaz-Tabora blocked roads and destroyed property at the Kwashieman Power Station of the ECG last week.
They reportedly destroyed a water tank and also nearly assaulted the security man at the station.
At Odorkor, there were reports of angry residents hitting the road in protest against the persistent power cuts. They were said to have blocked the major Kaneshie–Odorkor road.
Collapse of businesses
Successive months of erratic power supply has led to the collapse of a number of businesses, especially cold stores, and adversely affected the operations of the hospitality industry and a host of others.
The unscheduled power outages have led to stocks of food items going bad, while some operators of small-scale businesses such as Internet cafes, drinking bars and restaurants who cannot afford the additional cost of generators and fuel have closed down their businesses.
People now patronise eating and drinking places where they can sit for long periods and have the chance to charge their phones, while they pass the time sipping just a bottle or two of soft drink.
The new practice now is for one to carry one’s phone chargers wherever one is going, with the hope of getting access to a power source.
One institution that has recently experienced the frustrations faced by Ghanaians is Parliament.
Parliament’s experience
During the presentation of the government’s budget statement and economic policy on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, Parliament had to use a generator in order to forestall any power interruption. But last Thursday morning when the House reconvened and had been assured of regular power supply, the power went off just as the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, was saying a prayer for the commencement of the day’s business.
“This is the time for us to investigate this. It is unacceptable for us to continue going through this and we will investigate it,” he said.
More assurances
Last Monday, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), Mr William Amuna, told the Daily Graphic that the current load shedding of between 350 and 400 megawatts (MW) was caused by the erratic gas supply from Nigeria and the shutdown of some machines for regular maintenance works.
He also said players in the sector were working around the clock to stabilise the energy situation in the country, and expressed the hope that gas from Atuabo would come on stream as soon as possible to power thermal generators, including the Aboadze Thermal Plant.
Source: Graphic Online