Blame politicians and VRA for “Dumsor”: Prof. Victor Obeng

A retired Chemical Engineer and lecturer from Michigan State University in the U.S.A, Professor Victor Atiemo Obeng, has accused politicians and the Volta River Authority (VRA) for leading Ghanaians into the current power crises.

“Our political leadership has failed us; they could have done much better than they have done now because they had all the resources and money to prevent this recent power crisis but did nothing,” said Prof Obeng.

According to him, luck of anticipation and misplaced priorities on behalf of politicians has caused the country’s economy to scramble over the years.

“We only hear them borrowing and allocating money to various sectors when reading the budget but never see improvements in those sectors all because they used the money on luxurious vehicles,” he lamented.

Speaking to XFM Newscenter, Prof. Obeng expressed his disappointment with politicians for ignoring the truth.

Politicians always mislead Ghanaians, adding that the problem is not lack of funds as they say but instead greediness on behalf of most political leaders.

He said the current capacity of power generated by VRA and other stations are not enough to serve the requirements of the current population and the number of industries that have sprung up over the years.

The total amount of power generated by the country’s hydro, thermal and solar sourced adds up to 2,846.5 Mega Watts which is woefully inadequate.

Prof. Obeng lamented that the population of the country has increased from 6 million as at the time the Akosombo dam was built to 26million and therefore expected VRA to have also increased their capacity to match the population.

“The country has developed and uses more power whilst the amount of power we generate still remains the same. This is because we lack vision, planning and implementation of plan,” he stated.

Prof. Obeng who currently serves as the Director of Safe Water Project stressed that the country has enough intellectuals who are competent to provide solutions to the current problem being faced by the country.

The engineer indicated that over dependence on hydro power will let the country down.

Therefore he is encouraging politicians and the energy sector to consider other sources like solar, coal, oil, natural gas and wind to generate more power.

Story by: David Cudjoe/ Xfmnewscenter.com