Load-shedding: Tema Harbour not ready for power barges

The demarcation at the Tema Harbour where the two power barges from Turkey will be moored is not ready, an official of the port has disclosed.

“There are a couple of things to be done before the power barges will be brought to the port,” Paul Asare Ansah, the Marketing Manager of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) told TV3’s Josephine Frempong on Thursday, April 9.

Government had promised to deliver two power barges from Turkey as a medium-term measure to lessen the effects of the power crisis in the country.

But Turkey’s power-ship maker Karadeniz - with its Ghanaian subsidiary Karpower - is yet to dredge the area for the power ships.

“[In] our last communication with them, they made us understand that they are having the necessary consultations with all those involved,” noted Mr Asare Ansah.

“Some decisions have to be taken before we can say that they are ready to berth.”

According to him, the area of berth has to be dredged 2 meters deeper while there has to be a re-force of the breakwater area.

“We will make all the arrangements so that they don’t pose any threat to the usual activities at the fishing harbor,” Mr Asare Ansah said in an effort to allay fears about the threats the barges may pose to normal operations at the country’s major port.

“We have taken the necessary measures to make sure their activities coexist with the usual arrival and departure of ships.”

Meanwhile, TV3 gathers the barges will not be ready until after three to four months.

Our sources say the two $100 million-worth barges are yet to be freighted from Istanbul.