C/R receives 400,000 energy saving bulbs

Cape Coast, Aug. 15, GNA - The Energy Commission on Wednesday presented four hundred thousand pieces of compact fluorescent lambs (CFL), known as energy saving bulbs to the Central Regional Coordinating Council for distribution to the 13 districts of the region. Presenting the bulbs, Mr. Charles Anderson, Chief Programme Officer of the Commission stated that government was committed to solving the energy crisis that was why it had imported the bulbs to distribute freely to the people in order to help conserve energy. He said incandescent bulbs, which consume a lot of current, would be replaced by the CFL so as to enable the communities to contribute their quota towards the conservation of energy to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to all. "If we can reduce our energy consumption it will then be possible for the Volta River Authority (VRA) to supply everybody with electricity and will not put some people off," he said.

Mr. Anderson who is also the Coordinator for Greater Accra, Central and Western regions explained that the incandescent bulbs most people use in their homes give out only 20 per cent of light but generate 80 per cent heat whiles the CFL does not give off heat at all. He tasked the RCC to appoint regional and district coordinators to supervise the distribution of the bulbs, which he said, should be done from house to house adding that for every incandescent bulb that was removed a CFL must replaced it.

He called on the people to report to the police anybody that will be seen selling the CFL because they were not meant for sale stressing that all the six million pieces imported by the government have the nations coat of arms for easy identification. Receiving the bulbs, the Regional Minister, Nana Ato Atta reiterated government's commitment to ensuring that a lasting solution was found to the crisis and urged all the people to be part of the solution by patronizing the energy consuming bulbs. He assured the Energy Commission that he would monitor the distribution of the bulbs himself to ensure that they were equitably distributed and tasked District Assemblies to ensure that the exercise was completed within two weeks. 15 Aug. 07