Member of Parliament for Akyem Oda and a former Finance Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo is advocating the establishment of an Energy Crisis Management Council made up of recognised experts and various stakeholders to serve as a one stop shop for the management of the crisis.
The proposed council according to the MP would be a non-political grouping of technical experts, industrialists, business executives and other stakeholders. Their functions it is proposed would include becoming the one single entity that will continually work to end the crisis, and also be the source for all communication and information on efforts to end the crisis.
Speaking in an interview at a time when there was conflicting reports on the end date of the crisis, and what exact efforts have been put in place to end the crisis, Mr. Osafo Maafo indicated that the Crisis management council will ensure that the business community, potential investors and the general public have one and only one source of information on the management of the crisis.
As a non-political & a technical committee with representation from the Energy ministry and the power producers, the Akyem Oda MP said the Council will be a more acceptable and trusted source of information on the state of the country’s energy generation activities and period for ending the crisis.
Likening it to a war time strategy council, Mr. Osafo Maafo who is among the contenders wanting to lead the ruling NPP to the 2008 elections said, the mandate of the Council will end once the crisis is over.
Mr. Osafo Maafo who was speaking to the dailyEXPRESS at a time there was conflicting information from various government spokespersons and other officials on when the crisis will be over, maintained that the lack of accurate, reliable and consistent information to help especially the industries, mines and other businesses plan their energy needs continues to heighten the anxiety among the business community.
He also believes that the work of the council as the highest crisis management group and its non-political status will help in the sharing of information and the increasing levels of blame game and political debates among the ruling NPP and especially the opposition NDC.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and Kwame Pianim is also calling for a national strategic framework that would ensure adequate and reliable energy to power the nation's new thrust for accelerated development.
"The recurrent cycle of load shedding must be put to an end, it happened in 1998 and again in 2007. It only accelerated the ageing of the already crumbling economic system", he added.
In a lecture at the Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Mr. Pianim who is also an Economist & Investment Consultant said a sustainable solution required all hands to be on deck with the stakeholders in the utility services, as a matter of priority, finding the required resources to rehabilitate the system, especially the distribution and transmission network.
"Their contribution should recognise that the public envelope is limited and there are other equally demanding and urgent social needs competing for scarce public funds", he emphasised.
He made a strong case for a national debate on forward planning for energy, given the fact that climate change is real, adding that the country can no longer depend on hydro power.
