Dumsor: Why not give us timetable than destroying properties - Jinapor

Former Deputy Minister of Energy in the erstwhile John Mahama administration, John Jinapor has chided the Akufo-Addo government for refusing to come out with a load shedding timetable to help Ghanaians manage their activities.

According to the Member of Parliament(MP) for Yapei/Kusawgu Constituency, it should not be a difficult task for the Akufo-Addo government to be truthful to Ghanaians about the challenges facing the energy sector, causing the unstable power supply in the country.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, John Jinapor posited that since the Energy Minister has come out to say that it is no longer an intermittent power outage but rather a systematic power outage, it means that the situation is predictable and expectant, hence, it should be accompanied by a load shedding timetable to help Ghanaians plan their lives with it.

“If you know that there will be a power outage, why are you not giving us load shedding timetable to know which areas will experience the power outage at a point in time so that Ghanaians will plan their activities with the load shedding and not destroy properties with this unregulated power outage?”, he wondered.

He, however, disclosed that the government officials stopped GRIDCo from coming out with a timetable after the company announced that the country is going to experience this “systematic” power outage from now till September this year and that a timetable will be needed to manage the load shedding.

John Jinapor asserted that due to the Akufo-Addo government being economical with the truth with Ghanaians, the various stakeholders in the energy sector are doing blame-game with the electricity challenge; thus, the Bui Dam CEO, as well as the CEO of GRIDCo, the Energy Minister, ECG, and VRA are all giving different accounts of the situation.

“The Minister said it is maintenance and that is why we are experiencing a power outage in the country and even if that is the case, is it not proper that they inform Ghanaians before changing those lines that are weak? Is it difficult to tell Ghanaians that you are doing maintenance work and so some areas will experience a power outage for some period of time? Are they going to intermittently put our lights off till September without giving us a timetable to manage activities as a country?”, he asked.

“While ECG is saying that the power outage will last till December, the Minister of Energy is saying it will end in July. This is why I have issued a statement that the government should be truthful to Ghanaians about whatever challenges they are going through with the supply of regular power to Ghanaians,” he chided.