Ablekuma residents go wild; threaten to storm ECG offices

Reports reaching Today indicate that residents of Ablekuma and its environs are seething with anger over several and continuous days of power cut.

The situation, according to the residents, was not only worrying but frustrating since many of them who use light to run their various businesses have not had power since Wednesday, January 21, 2015.

Consequently, the residents, some of who live at Manhean, Borkorborkor, Oduman, Afoaman, Abaase—all surrounding towns around Ablekuma—have threatened to storm the Ablekuma office of the Electricity of Ghana (ECG) to demand an explanation to what they described as “killing services” meted out to them by the power distributor-ECG.

Indeed, residents particularly those in Abaase and Manhean, could not understand why at some parts of Accra the so-called load shedding guide was working but then when it comes to Ablekuma and its environs the situation was completely different.

“We at Manhean, Ablekuma and Abaase have organised ourselves and would be storming the Ablekuma ECG office to demand why such a treatment should be meted out to us. It is more like ECG has targeted Ablekuma and its environs for what definitely cannot be described as load-shedding,” a frustrated and furious resident of Manhean, Nii Aryee, told Today.

Nii Aryee further used the opportunity to call on all residents within the Ablekuma environs to join them to march to the Ablekuma ECG office to ask why ECG was not following its “so-called load-shedding” guide at Ablekuma and its adjoining towns.

Meanwhile investigations by Today revealed that the current power situation situation was one which saw some particular areas, especially the said areas [Ablekuma and its environs] in Accra, go off several days (between four-five days) without power.

And even when power was restored o these areas, it only lasted for very few hours, making it practically difficult for residents to do anything meaningful.

It was also discovered that Ofankor Barrier, Tantra Hill, Darkuman Nyamekye, parts of Teshie Nungua and Spintex last week also suffered the same fate—having to bear brunt of several days without power.

And following this development at Ofankor and its environs, the paper learnt that residents in those areas were also planning to storm the ECG office at St. John’s.

According to residents at Abaase and Manhean, the current situation made their areas vulnerable to armed robbery attacks since in the evening these places become dark.

Ablekuma residents, for instance, contended that insofar as they were concerned ECG was not operating with any load-shedding guide.

“In fact ECG is doing a by-heart job. They have targeted areas they see as underdeveloped and have decided to punish them by taking them off the national grid for days. Obviously, they also know that these are areas that one will not find a prominent person living,” a resident of Borkorborkor, Mr. Emmanuel Asamoah, noted.

“So it was important that ECG came out to inform the public what load shedding guide they were using,” a resident of Manhen, near Ablekuma, Nii Ashaley, expressed.

One worrying issue, Today gathered, was some of the reasons usually given by ECG staff who receive calls on ECG helplines.

According to residents, particularly those who live at Ablekuma, any time one calls the ECG Helpline, the usual explanation given was this: “We are sorry for the inconveniences. The reason why your power is not back is because of an emergency load shedding/situation.”

In some cases the explanation is that “We have been assured that your power will be restored by the close of the day.”

“…And when you pressed them for time, they will tell that they were not given the specific time that power will be restored to an area,” a resident of Ablekuma, Nii Kotey, indicated.

The paper found out that those who were had-hit by the several days of power cut were cold store operators.

In Manhean, for instance, Today discovered that many cold store operators had been compelled to close down their business.

And some of them who spoke to the paper attributed their reason to the continuous days of power outage.

“Some of us were managing under a ECG publicly advertised load-shedding guide…but now the situation is different! You experience power cut and for several days you power is not restored,” a cold store operator at Ablekuma Abaase, Mama J, stated.

Interestingly some of the residents asserted that ECG was deliberately making sure that areas including Ablekuma, Manhean, Borkorborkor, Oduman, experience several days of power cuts because there were no big personalities living in these areas.

The paper also established from its findings that for the past few weeks the load shedding schedule currently being used by the ECG has gone from bad to worst.