Minister charges energy agencies to deliver efficiently

Accra, May 16, GNA - The Minister of Energy, Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, on Monday urged stakeholders in the sector to endeavour to deliver safe and reliable supply of energy to meet the development needs of the country.

Mr. Owusu-Adjapong said delivery of quality service was a challenge

that could be motivated through determination. "In our determination to provide the support to modernize and expand energy infrastructure and increase access to power, we need to examine our immediate environment and incorporate the concerns of customers," he said. The Minister was speaking at his first meeting with the heads of 12 agencies including Volta River Authority (VRA), Electricity Company of Ghana, Energy Commission, National Petroleum Authority and Energy Foundation under the Ministry of Energy. He noted that the Energy Ministry had gone through enormous challenges, critical amongst them being the recent power crisis which led to a load shedding exercise.

Mr. Owusu-Adjapong said it was therefore important to source adequate financing for the energy sector to ensure stable and reliable power supply in the short, medium and long term. He said some of the critical areas that he hoped to give attention to were the generation of power, transmission of power and distribution of energy under the power sub-sector of the ministry. Another area of concern was the petroleum sub-sector, which, he said, had been a focus of interest throughout Ghana because of the discovery of oil.

"I will ensure that the outstanding regulations and Legislative Instruments on Electricity and Gas Markets are passed by parliament." Mr. Owusu-Adjapong also announced that a draft on oil and gas policy was ready, saying "we will intensify stakeholders' consultation to enable us to finalize the document for inclusion in the Draft National Energy Policy document."

He also touched on the need to consider solar energy, especially for traffic lights in order to ease the inconveniences and congestion that come as a result of power failure.

He said his Ministry would soon put in place a framework document that would spell out more focused approach to the Ministry's relationship with the public regarding information delivery. Owura Kwaku Sarfo, Chief Executive of VRA, said the plants for the generation and distribution of power were in good shape and the water level was also average.

In that respect "we are certain that there will be enough to supply the whole country", he said 16 May 08