Power outage as Sogakope Bulk Power Supply point submerges

The flooding situation in parts of the Volta region has compelled the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to shut down its Bulk Supply Station at Sogakope.

The move is to safeguard the Station, which has been flooded.

Electricity power has gone down at Sogakope, Anloga, Keta, Akatsi South, Abor and North Tongu Districts as a safety measure to protect the systems from collapse.

Benjamin Obeng Antwi, the Volta Regional Public Relations Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), who briefed the Ghana News Agency, said flooding of the Sogakope Bulk Supply Point emanated from the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.

Benjamin Obeng Antwi, Volta Regional Public Relations Officer, Electricity Company of Ghana

He said Engineers from both ECG and GRIDco were on standby and had restored power to some of the communities, including Keta, Akatsi and Abor with Sogakope and Adidome yet to come on stream.

He said the Aflao sub-station was providing power to these communities.

The said clients could not be kept in darkness, which explained the reason for creating a bypass to give power to the affected areas.

Antwi said the Company regreted any inconveniences the situation might have caused to its clients, assuring that its engineers were working around the clock to restore power to all in the enclave.

Meanwhile, Togbega Patamia Dzekley VII, the Paramount Chief of the Battor Traditional Area, was sending a ‘Save Our Soul’ call to the government as a matter of urgency, to rescue the dangerous and scary situation in the Lower Volta Basin.

In a release to the Ghana News Agency, it indicated that since the Volta River Authority (VRA) started spilling the Akosombo and Kpong Dams from September 15, the water levels in the Lower Volta Basin kept threatening and displacing the people.

It said the intensity of the spillage was so strong that some towns in the Lower Volta Basin including Torgorme, Volo, Battor, Mepe, Bakpa, Sokpoe, and some Island settlements and other areas had been inundated with flood waters.

It said some of the towns and villages were bearing the heavy brunt of the flooding, as they were being abandoned and almost inaccessible, with farms crops already submerged, a situation that would have a greater negative impact on food security in the area.

The statement said Schools were affected and road networks had been cut-off by the floodwaters with the situation likely to impoverish the already fragile communities in the Tongu areas.

“The poverty situation is militating against efforts by the people to quickly relocate to higher grounds,” it said.

The statement indicated that from the foregoing, it was critical for the government to intervene without delay, to save lives and property.