Ghana\u2019s Energy Minister-nominee, Boakye Agyarko has attributed the incessant power cuts popularly known as \u2018dumsor\u2019 in the country to poor financial management and structuring as well as inadequate fuel to power the country\u2019s existing plants.<\/p>\n
According to him, the country has the human resources with technical ideas to address the power situation, however, it has failed to properly manage its finances in the sector.<\/p>\n
Mr Agyarko made the assertion when he appeared before Parliament\u2019s Appointments committee on Monday [January 24] to be vetted for the ministerial office.<\/p>\n
\u201cDumsor is not a function of installed capacity. Dumsor is a function of your ability to procure sufficient feed or crude, or gas to power the plants. Dumsor can also be a situation where power plants particularly, thermal plants because of money are not undergoing their regular cycle of maintenance so they go past their firing hours, it reduces efficiency and hence they start having problems. The power plants at aboadze are having that kind of problems,\u201d Mr Agyarko said.<\/p>\n
He said an Energy Ministry under his leadership will improve the financial management and structuring of the energy sector to end the country\u2019s energy woes, assuring that the government will move the country from the current state of erratic power supply to an \u201cideal state of uninterrupted power delivery\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that we are moving from dumsor to a steady state of power supply to the ideal state of uninterrupted power delivery. The problem of dumsor in our estimation is not a technical problem. We have some of the best brains and technical people in our energy sector in Africa. The problem with dumsor is principally, one of money. The energy sector we find now is seriously cash-strapped to the extent that we now live in a debt merry go round.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn trying to end dumsor, we have to improve the financial management and structuring within the energy sector and that is what I commit to do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ghana has in the last decade suffered severe power crisis. Successive governments have failed to adequately address the challenge that has crippled many industries and led to the collapse of some.<\/p>\n