Faced with having to choose between enjoying a 24-hour electricity supply and the possibility of outright unemployment, a cross-section of workers, traders and drivers in Tarkwa in the Western Region say under the current national energy crises, they would prefer the load-shedding exercise.
They however unleashed barrage accusations on the authorities whom they claimed were only paying lip service when it came to finding solutions to problems.
According to them, this was not the time for people to play politics with such very important national needs, and demanded urgent and prompt attention. There has been an outcry since the national load-shedding exercise started with some parts of the country experiencing a 12-hour power outage every three days. The situation has raised questions on why nothing concrete was done to find lasting solutions to this almost perennial problem.
The randomly approached workers, traders and taxi cab drivers, some of whom are employees of Goldfields Ghana Limited - Tarkwa and Damang, Anglogold Ashanti, Iduapriem, Wexford Goldfields and Ghana Manganese Company, were unanimous that the onus lay with policy-makers to expedite action to avoid a full-blown crisis.
They resolved to comply with any measures that their respective companies and authorities would adopt in order to safeguard their jobs. The interviewees, some pleading anonymity, told The Chronicle over the weekend that since the mining sector was the majority employer in the Wassa West District, they could not imagine the sector crumbling in the name of their own comfort. They contended that the sector was the pivot of economic activities in the District, hence any measure to forestall decline would be welcome so long as it did not disrupt mining operations.
An accountant, Mr. George W. Sokdol, identified benefits such as payments of royalties, both corporate and income taxes, and corporate social responsibilities in the form of assistance. Others, he added, were a reduction in unemployment and several other areas that the nation derives from; thus supporting the need for the sector to be sustained in this period.
To him, consumers were not paying enough to enable uninterrupted commensurate power supply, while a mining engineer was of the opinion that the government should give the private sector a free hand to come on board.
He said because government alone could not bear the cost, any long-term solution should involve private investors.
Asked whether he could afford to pay full recovery under the private sector, he replied, “Why not? If there is an efficient and uninterrupted supply, there would be a high demand”. A Plant Metallurgist, Mr. Gideon Asante, suggested that an alternative source was imperative now more than ever and advocated for wind and solar energy adoptation. He explained that Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, took a bold step by building the Akosombo Dam. Current leaders, he said, should continue from there.
An Instrumentation Engineer, Mr. Joseph Kodom Effa, who wondered why investors were not coming into the sector since according to him Parliament had passed a law paving way for private investors, supported this view. He pointed out that different companies could build their power generating sets and synchronize them on the existing pylons of VRA.
Mr. Frank Addo, who sells video CDs, lamented that market for his wares would go down if the trend continued for a long time, but hoped remedial measures were underway to address the problem. The Chronicle gathered that some drastic measures had already been put in place by AngloGold Ashanti, Iduapriem, to reduce power consumption in its operations. With foresight, the company’s visionary Managing Director, Mr. David Kwesi Renner, in a decisive move on August 29 directed all employees to adopt all means, including replacing incandescent bulbs with energy saving ones, switching off computers, lights and air conditioners when they are not in use at both work and home.
Meanwhile, on Joy FM’s News File programme hosted by the ever-popular talk-show queen, Nana Yaa Ofori-Atta, the Energy Minister, Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda, last Saturday disclosed that the load-shedding would be reviewed at the end of September. He said construction of the much-awaited Bui Dam would commence in the middle of 2007 and be completed in 5 years.
Mr. Adda, who doubles as the MP for Navrongo, did not consider the current situation as a crisis, but conceded that he was not aware that there would be a drought at the beginning of the year. He indicated that his Ministry’s expectations were that by mid July, the water level at the Volta Lake would rise.
However, the MP for South Dayi and Ranking Member for Energy, Dr. Kwame Ampofo, disagreed. His contention was that “it’s definitely a crisis” that could have been avoided.
According to him, when he received the invitation to appear as a member of the panel for News File, he made checks at the Energy Ministry and saw its Capacity Expansion Plan. Dr. Ampofo faulted the government for not being firm on the construction of the Bui Dam, the reason for which he admitted was environmental. He was of the view that VALCO was “causing financial drain to the VRA” because it is not paying for the full cost of power being allocated to it.
But the hostess, Nana Yaa, pointed out to him that as a Ranking Member, he could have done better by checking and putting the government on its toes rather than wait to be invited for a programme before acting.
