Dumsor not again!

Ghanaians dread dumsor, as the challenges posed by the development disrupt domestic and commercial endeavours.

For almost four years, electricity consumers had to cope with 24-hour power outages and 12-hour power at a certain stage.

It was a nightmarish experience for most people, as dumsor brought about job and income losses and discomfort in homes.

The government was at its wits’ end trying to find solutions to the challenge, with former President John Mahama stating boldly in one of his State of the Nation Addresses that he would not manage the dumsor, as had been done in the past, but “I, John Mahama, will fix the dumsor”.

A sector minister also put his job on the line by stating clearly that if by December 31, 2015 dumsor  had not been fixed, he would resign. Indeed, he lost his job.

Dumsor took its toll on the entire nation in terms of loss of revenue and jobs and caused pain and created disaffection for the government.

Therefore, news of the imminent return to dumsor because of the shortfall of about 600 megawatts (MW) of power by February 3, 2017 must be creating anxiety among all manner of electricity consumers.

This will be due to a complex web of financial obligations and other challenges confronting the national power generation company, the Volta River Authority (VRA).

The power supply deficit is occurring mainly at the Aboadze power enclave in the Western Region.

The Daily Graphic has gathered that as of the close of last week, the VRA’s Takoradi Thermal Plant Stations (TAPCO 1&2) were already down with 330MW of power, as the contractor for its long-term service agreement refused to carry out major inspection to demand the payment of a $2-million debt owed it.

The unfortunate news is not the best for residents and businesses alike because it reminds them of the unfortunate experiences they endured for years. The news comes at a time when businesses in the country are beginning to recover from the ravages of the power outages.

Apart from increasing the production cost of businesses, there were many other companies that had no choice but lay off workers in an attempt to cut cost. Small businesses such as dressmaking and barbershops also suffered a fair share of the outages, most of which were not properly scheduled.

At a time when the new administration has pledged to make the private sector the engine of growth, it is worrying that power, which is a key driver of productivity, will be in short supply.

To actualise the pledge regarding the private sector, it is incumbent on the government to ensure that the promises made as far as building a strong private sector is concerned are made real. This can be done if it ensures that the VRA and the other power producers do all in their power to ensure that the impact of the exercise is not felt as heavily as was the case in the past.

We believe that the government should be able to either buy power from neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire to make up for the shortfall in supply or buy enough light crude oil to power the plants.

It should be able to find a Plan B at all times to prevent what the whole nation dreads. 

The Daily Graphic calls on the VRA not to downplay the threat of dumsor but do everything possible to reduce its impact on power consumers.