Dialogue is key in ECG-govt impasse
The decision to sack the Managing Director (MD) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Rev William Hutton-Mensah, has angered some workers of the company, who have said that his dismissal is unfair and unwarranted.
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The workers, particularly those in the Avenor office in Accra, have hoisted red flags and banners demanding his reinstatement.
Again, the Minority Spokesperson on Energy, Mr K. T. Hammond, has accused the government of using the ECG boss as a scapegoat and dismissing him, adding that it will not bring an end to the deepening energy crisis the country is saddled with.
The Director of Research at the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Mr John Peter Amewu, has also stated that the dismissal of the ECG boss will not have any positive impact on the energy crisis in the country.
The Daily Graphic too does not believe that the dismissal of the ECG MD is the magic wand that will turn things around.
Meanwhile, if the ECG workers decide to lay down their tools in solidarity with their axed MD, an already bad situation will only be made worse.
Ghana has been grappling with energy supply problems for a number of years now as a result of increased demand for electricity.
Although the plan is to achieve energy sufficiency by 2016 and bring an end to the ‘dumsor dumsor’ (erratic power supply), being experienced currently, not much progress has been made.
Factors militating against the plan include the inability of the government to attract more independent power producers because tariffs are not competitive enough.
The government itself has compounded the problem with the huge debt owed the ECG by ministries, departments and agencies in electricity bills. The government is indebted to the VRA and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) for shortfalls in investments in plant and machinery.
Gas supplies from the West Africa Gas Pipeline to the Aboadze Thermal Plant have been anything but regular, while the Atuabo Gas Plant has not really taken off to augment electricity supply in the country as planned.
Further, full operations of both the Akosombo and the Bui hydro dams have been seriously hampered by their low water levels.
The constant maintenance works on and refurbishment of other power plants, such as the Takoradi and the Kpong plants, have also not helped matters due to frequent shutdowns.
In all this, it is the users and consumers of electricity in Ghana that suffer most.
In the past, not many things were done with electricity. However, these days electricity has become an indispensable item for our homes, offices, industries, hospitals and schools.
Life, therefore, virtually comes to a halt when there is no electric power.
The ECG ought to fulfil its contract with consumers by always supplying the power it takes from the VRA and GRIDCo.
Much as the current erratic and unplanned power cuts do not augur well for any meaningful social life and development, the current tussle between the government and ECG workers will not resolve the challenges in the energy sector.
We urge all stakeholders in the power generation sector —– the government, workers of ECG, VRA, GRIDCo, consumers and other industry players — to use dialogue to once and for all deal with any labour issues in the sector in order not to aggravate the power crisis.