Residents and business operators in the Ashanti Region are urging the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to provide them with a load-shedding timetable as the erratic power supply situation continues to worsen in recent times.
Following the recent blackout in the country, Ghanaians have expressed dissatisfaction with the ECG and the Energy Ministry for such an absurd situation, which is a disturbing development.
Key players in the industry, including the IES, have raised concerns over the situation, attributing it to financial challenges.
Meanwhile, Deputy Energy Minister Andrew Egyapa Mercer has assured Ghanaians of a 100 percent resolution to the challenge.
“What has happened over the past few days is that some obligation owed by GNPC to WAPCo was an issue. WAPCo threatened GNPC made some initial payments, but it wasn’t satisfactory. We requested the Ministry of Finance to top up. We had to go through some approval processes.”
“As of yesterday [Wednesday] evening, the Ministry of Finance had approved a sum of 10 million to pay for a part of that debt. So that was the hiccup that we encountered that led to the power outages we experienced in the past few days. But that has been resolved.”
Speaking to Citi News, some residents in Kumasi, including business operators such as cold store operators, printing press operators, and salon and barber shop operators, explained how the situation has affected their businesses.
“You’ll be printing, you’ll be working, and then ‘puom’ the light goes off, just like that. They don’t inform anybody. It is really affecting our businesses. Though we have a backup plant, you will have to buy more fuel, which is expensive.”
They also urged the ECG and the Energy Ministry to provide a schedule for the outage.
“We want communication. We want a roster as scheduled previously so that we will know that today we have light, we can work all day, and tomorrow we don’t have light so that we know we can prepare enough fuel to fuel our generators to help when the lights go off.”
Source:citinewsroom.com
